Tonight he starts by talking about the first time Black Flag came to the UK supporting The Damned. This moves onto how his band toured Sweden and played to a roomful of skinheads apart from four guys with long hair standing right at the front. These four guys wanted to meet the band at the end of the set and turned out to be just starting out in their own group called Metallica. This story turns into a tale about how at a Black Flag show in New York, a huge stage diver absolutely flattened a small woman who didn’t get out of the way in time. She eventually got up and walked away and the band always remembered the incident. She then approached them the next time they played in New York and met them before the gig to explain that she lost an eye that night and now had a glass one, but she didn’t blame them.

Rollins mentions turning fifty last year and how after 30 years on the road he’s come to accept that this is pretty much what he does, never having been married or having children. His stories range from being funny to political but the main thing is that they are always interesting. He talks about going to see an art exhibition by Captain Beefheart along with an old friend from L.A. which ends with him outside the venue bellowing lines from “Blue Velvet” at a visibly shocked Dennis Hopper who makes a quick exit while Matt Groening looks on with his young daughter.

The stories come in rapid succession, so we get to hear about his exploits buying a ladder and some stationery at Costco with Heidi one of his employees whom he nicknames “the demon”. This shopping excursion with its encouragement towards bulk buying and over excess ends with him reading aloud from George Bush’s biography in a bid to amuse or wind up the shoppers around him. He mentions filming some documentaries for National Geographic in India, where he went rat hunting with a group of men who insist that he helps kill, roast and eat the rats that he catches. He also gets to hang out with guys who catch and extract poison from venomous snakes, in an adventure that ends in a 3 hour bluesy church jam with people speaking in tongues and handling the live snakes which he describes as one of the best gigs he’s ever been to.

He delights in visiting countries that the American Government disapproves of, so he mentions traveling to Syria and Iran and going to North Korea to see the body of Kim Jong-il, describing the country as “bad food, very weak tea and propaganda”. He has also been to Vietnam a few times and relates his travels with a funny guide who constantly laughed at John McCain and how he ended up as a prisoner there. His final story involves buying huge amounts of soap and footballs to distribute to people living in tent cities in Haiti after the earthquake there. He explained that the trick was to find the unofficial leader of the tent city and negotiate with that person only, after causing a mini riot by handing stuff out to people by himself.

Rollins is on stage with these stories for two and a half hours, and personally I found him engaging and entertaining. Quick to impersonate the voices and mannerisms of the people he encounters, he keeps the stories moving along so you never feel bored. He says that he never stays at his L.A. home for too long as he gets bored and wants to book another trip somewhere almost as soon as he gets back. Last year Katie Price addressed students at Oxford Union but dried up and took questions after about 8 minutes despite being expected to give an hour talk. Not something that would ever happen to Rollins. He’s too interested in the world around him and as such has led a varied and interesting life. Always worth going to check out to see what he has to say.

Peace

http://henryrollins.com/

A different support band, By the Rivers kick things off. A six-piece reggae band from Leicester, they’re pleasing enough to listen to but not too memorable for me personally.

Once The Specials come on, it’s the same energetic set as last week, with the band dedicating “Hey little rich girl” to Amy Winehouse – a song of theirs that she used to cover in her live sets.

Always worth going to see. All good.

Peace.

http://getoutgigging.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/the-specials-brighton-centre-tues-25th-oct-2011/

http://www.myspace.com/bytherivers

http://www.thespecials.com/index.phpm

After the break, the lights go down and a huge cheers goes up as a photographic montage of the last 30 years are displayed on a giant backdrop. So we get images of Thatcher (to huge boos), the Falklands war, Brixton riots, John Major (more boos), Lockerbie, Gazza crying, the poll tax riots, Stephen Lawrence, queues outside Northern Rock building society, the riots in Tottenham after Mark Duggan’s murder and finally David Cameron (boos galore, thank you).

As the image fades, first Neville Staples then the rest of The Specials casually saunter onto the stage to huge cheers and Neville launches into the opening line from “Gangsters”. Despite Jerry Dammers’ reluctance to go out on the road with this greatest hits package from The Specials, it is pretty damn good to hear these songs again. Mr. Dammers wanted to record some new stuff as well as performing the classics, which to my mind would have been a better show, but I can’t deny that all those old songs still possess an energy and vigour that have stood up over the last 30 years.

Most of the material comes from their classic eponymous debut album released in October 1979 and produced by Elvis Costello. It guarantees a great atmosphere right from the start. Neville Staples is fine form despite complaining of a bad knee and he’s still the perfect foil to Terry Hall’s deadpan delivery. I’m glad the songs have stood the test of time and still sound great played live. The band are augmented by a three piece male horn section (trumpet, saxophone and trombone) and a three piece female string section. I’m wondering if it’s the same six musicians who were on stage with Madness at their Christmas gig last year.

Not much more to add really, they’re a band worth seeing live if you’ve never seen them before. A killer setlist of great songs:

• Do the dog
• Dawning of a new era
• Up to you
• Monkey man
• Blank expression
• Rat race
• Too hot
• Doesn’t make it alright
• Hey little rich girl
• Pearl’s Cafe (with the chorus of “it’s all a load of bollocks” being cheerily sung by the majority of the crowd
• Stupid marriage with Neville in ebullient mood as Judge Roughneck
• Concrete jungle
• International jet set
• Friday night, saturday morning
• Stereotype
• Man at C & A
• Do nothing
• Message to you rudy
• Nite Klub
• Too much too young
• Enjoy yourself

They encore with their classic number one from 1981 “Ghost town”, the soundtrack to the Brixton riots that took place during the Summer of that year and a song that has come full circle with the recent riots in Tottenham and other parts of the country. Finally, they sign off with “You’re wondering now” and it’s goodnight.

A shameless exercise in nostalgia but with songs this good it’s a welcome trip. I’m sure they can carry on playing these greatest hits for a good while yet as there will always be plenty of people who grew up with them and want to see them play again (myself included) but I can’t help thinking that Mr. Dammers was right and some new songs would have been a good idea too.

Peace.

http://www.stonefoundation.co.uk/home.html

http://www.thespecials.com/index.phpm

As well as rhyming over drums, The Last Poets also used to rhyme over jazzy instrumentals, something they called “Jazzoetry”, and it’s this sound they bring with them tonight. The band consists of congas/timpali, drums, bass and lead guitar and add just the right blend of funky instrumentation to perfectly compliment the two voices of the poets. Their poetry is still as insightful as ever, multi-layered lyricism that’s in turn poignant, funny, insightful and emotional. The fact that the poems they wrote and recorded in the 60′s and 70′s are still relevant today is perhaps an indictment in itself. I remember a quote from them where they said that they didn’t wage war against white people but against black people who were not being black, poems like “n*gger’s are scared of revolution being a case in point.

They take it in turns to recite a poem while the other vocalist will chant a chorus. It’s an effective and evocative way to deliver poetry and puts to rest the argument from MCs who say poetry is boring or irrelevant (especially as 9 times out of 10 those same MCs have a lame live show themselves). A stand out song is Umar Bin Hassan’s “Poem to Jimi Hendrix” accompanied by funky guitar licks worthy of the man himself. It’s a powerful ode to the legacy of Jimi and goes down really well. Of course, former Last Poet Jalal Nuriddin recorded the awesome 9 minute poem “Doriella Du Fontaine” featuring Buddy Miles on drums and Jimi Henrix on guitar, so the poets have always had a long standing respect for Jimi.

Always worth going to see live, and representing a crucial link in the evolution of Hip Hop, The Last Poets are definitely a refreshing change in these X Factor and American Idol manufactured musical times. With rhymes reflecting the anger but ultimately the hope of people surviving within a capitalist system, they remind us of the humanity and community that still exists amongst those who are still prepared to ask questions. A typical lyric asks “The global economy becomes the global slave, whom do we dispose of and whom do we save?”. Nuff said.

Peace.

The classic “Doriella Du Fontaine” by Jalal Nuriddin aka Lighting Rod:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfN9O3Ok85c

http://www.umarbinhassan.com/

Annie Nightingale stands stage left and introduces the artists as well as giving some background information about the show.  The decidedly older crowd is made up of people who obviously grew up watching the TV show, but there’s enough younger faces in the audience to make this event a bit more than just an exercise in nostalgia. First up is The Manfreds, most of the original members of the band formerly known as Manfred Mann. It’s a good way to kick off proceedings and the older members of the audience give them a good reception. Next up is Dave Berry, the Sheffield singer famous for the song “The crying game”. The song still sounds great and he’s on fine form too, joking that between the artists on stage tonight they should be able to claim about £850 heating allowance.

The younger acts influenced by R.S.G. are represented by Paloma Faith, Hackney born singer and actor who comes onstage looking the part in beehive hairdo and gold dress. She belts out one of her own numbers and “Ain’t no sunshine” by Bill Withers and gives a great vocal performance. A good addition to the bill, she’s chatty to the audience and obviously loves to sing. Carl Barat, formerly of The Libertines, comes on and plays a rowdy version of “Bang band you’re dead” that also goes down well.

Sandie Shaw bounds on next in shorts, pink Union Jack coat and, of course, bare feet and gets a huge reception. She still looks and sounds great and gives an effortless and enthusiastic performance of some of her popular 60′s hits. Similarly, Nona Hendryx, formerly of Labelle, also gives a fiery performance. Her version of “Lady Marmalade” sounding particularly funky. David McAlmont flounces onstage looking good in his jacket adorned with jewellery and is also in fine voice, but then he’s always been a great singer.

As R.S.G was always about introducing new talent, we also get a couple of songs from Loick (pronounced “Low-eek”) Essien. He’s a Londoner of Nigerian/Ghanaian descent who’s signed to Sony and due to release his debut album this year. He’s got a great voice, showcased by his two song acoustic set and it will be interesting to see how his career develops.

Ronnie Spector gives a great performance of “Baby I love you” and “Be my baby” and her natural charm and charisma  get the crowd grooving to her enthusiastic renditions. Next we have a tribute to Dusty Springfield, a great artist in her own right and the woman who introduced a host of Motown artists to the UK via the show. David McAlmont comes back on to give a rousing rendition of “You don’t have to say you love me” that receives a standing ovation and Paloma Faith comes on to sing “Son of a preacher man” that also goes down well.

Finally everybody, including Ray Davies,  comes back on stage to sing “Lola” as a finale and it’s a perfect way to end what has been a great show. A good mix of old and new artists, Ray Davies and Vicki Wickham managed to pull off a great recreation and fitting tribute to an influential show. Great stuff.

Peace.

http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/visitor-info/festival-of-britain

They’re all looking fit and very dapper in their dark suits and launch into “Gypsy woman” complete with understated and perfectly executed synchronised dance moves. From there it’s a good old clap along to the Gospel stirrings of “It’s Alright”, originally released in 1963 and still sounding life affirming. Reggie Torian takes the lead vocal that would have been sung by Curtis Mayfield. His voice is different enough so that he’s not doing a vocal impression of Curtis’ unmistakeable voice, but he can hit the high notes where he needs to so that the songs sound faithful to the original versions.

After that we get “Talking About My Baby”, “I’m So Proud” and “Keep On Pushing”, each song delivered with great harmonies from all three and getting a great repsonse from the audience. Sam Gooden takes the lead on “I’ve Been Trying” but all three have such good voices that an one of them could sing lead vocals. “People Get Ready” also sounds really epic and gets huge applause, as I suppose it must be one of the more recognisable Mayfield songs. Then there’s the Northern Soul stomper “You’ve Been Cheatin’”, which gets people up out of their seats and dancing.

As if to prove that they have a great legacy of brilliant songs that span the Civil Rights era and beyond, The Impressions then sing “We’re A Winner”, “I Loved And I Lost”, “This Is My Country” and “Choice of Colors”. Reggie Torian then dons a dapper coat, white scarf and wide brim hat to launch into “Superfly”. The classic guitar intro is faithfully recreated by the Speedometer guitarist and when the band launch into the song people are again up and dancing.

After that we get “Mighty Mighty (Spade and Whitey)” and “Move On Up” as an encore. A great set from a unique group. Not only did they do justice to the great songs Curtis Mayfield left behind but they proved that they are still great entertainers in their own right. Easily one of the gigs of the year so far. Let’s hope it’s not too long before they return to the UK.

Peace

I forgot my camera but there’s footage of the gig on YouTube. Cheers to whoever posted this on there:

http://www.the-impressions.com/

They reformed last year and played a Love Music Hate Racism show in Luton backed by Luton reggae band The Shabby Tinkerz. Following this show, they did a session for Mark Lamarr’s God Jukebox show and are also due to release a new album in 2011 on Luton based Blu Jeanz Records.

So I’m looking forward to this Jazz Cafe show which is their first in London for something like 25 years. The venue takes a long time to fill up, but by the time the band take to the stage it’s comfortably full in here. They’re backed by London’s top reggae session men, The Ruff Cutt band, who tonight consist of drums, five string bass, keyboards, rhythm guitar and percussion. They’ve been around for 30 years and in that time have backed pretty much every reggae artist who plays over here.

After the band play a couple of instrumentals, Clint Eastwood (the natty dread) and General Saint (the ball head) come bounding onto the stage, high stepping, skanking and running around the stage like excitable teenagers. From there, we’re into an energetic show full of good humour, great music and plenty of banter from the duo, both amongst themselves and with the audience. Their classic songs still sound great and they’ve lost none of their charisma. “Talk about run”, in which the cowardly duo make a run for it after being contronted by a duppy is still funny. “Young lover” and “Another one bites the dust” are performed with exaggerated facial gestures and top notch dance moves from both deejays.

They encore with “Stop that train” after having played pretty much all of their old songs. A good way to end and the huge cheers from the audience show that it’s been greatly appreciated. A great show from an entertaining team, harking back to the days of humour in the dance. Great to see them back and I hope to catch them again really soon.

Peace

http://www.myspace.com/clinteastwoodgeneralsaint

http://www.blujeanzrecords.co.uk/home

http://lovemusichateracism.com/

and footage of their Love Music Hate Racism gig from 2010:

They need to get a CD out, but you can check out what it is they do on Soundcloud:

http://soundcloud.com/horse-brothers

And here’s “Gun in the home” from the Water Rats gig:

Peace

http://horsebrothersmusic.com/

May review: http://getoutgigging.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/horse-brothers-cargo-london-fri-6th-may-2011/

March review: http://getoutgigging.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/horse-brothers-water-rats-kings-cross-london-weds-16th-mar-2011/

Rakim takes to the stage and stands there for a while just receiving the applause and cheers. He opens with “My melody”, the B side of his first single from 1986 and it’s a perfect starting point for him to go through his back catalogue.

He doesn’t play too much from his last album “The Seventh Seal, apart from stand out track “Holy are you”, but it wasn’t his strongest album to date and I think most people are here to reminisce with the classic Rakim tunes anyway. And reminisce we do, with great tunes like “Know the ledge”, “Don’t Sweat The Technique”, “Move the crowd”, “It’s been a long time” and “Microphone fiend” all reminding us why he acquired the nickname “the God MC”. Before playing “Eric B is president”, Rakim and Technician do a nice introduction by playing tunes that were popular in 1986, the year his first single came out. Weird to think the song is 25 years old and to be reminded of some of the songs that were around back then. Check the video below to see what I mean.

The proceedings dip a little bit when Rakim and Technician divide the crowd in two for some tired call and response stuff to see which side is louder. This goes on a little longer than it needs to and wasn’t really necessary but apart from that it was a great show.

He finishes the show with that anthem to making money, “Paid In Full”. It’s good to hear him rhyming over the Coldcut remixed version, as I always thought both him and Eric B didn’t like it, but maybe that was just the rumour at the time. He doesn’t mention his former DJ Eric B, but they did part company back in 1992 after the fourth album “Don’t Sweat The Technique” so he’s been solo for a while now.

Finally, he does a quick acapella rendition of “Follow The Leader” and that’s a great show (w)rapped up. He tells us that next time he won’t leave it so long before he comes back to the UK. Here’s hoping there’s a quick return visit from one of Hip Hop’s greatest MCs.

Peace

http://www.myspace.com/rakim

Vocal Explosion are led by composer and director Juliet Russell and comprise a choir of male and female members who combine their voices to sing songs mainly South African in origin but also with elements of Gregorian chant and Eastern European harmony. Uplifiting and catchy, they fill the venue with a joyful sound, obviously really into what they’re doing. An enthusiastic performance that goes down really well. Worth checking out if you ever get the chance.

I only saw them last month, as the 10 strong Kalakuta Millionaires are busy working the gigging circuit at the moment. They play their usual exuberant and funky Afrobeat set and quickly get the seated audience up and dancing. The four piece horn section sounded particularly good under the church roof and Siggi Mwasote’s enthusiastic vocal stylings soars over the powerhouse groove.

Conga player Cicely Taylor sings soulful back up, and the bands mish mash of funk, Latin and African grooves give a nod to James Brown, Fela Kuti and Willie Colon often in the space of one song! Vocal Explosion rejoin them on stage for a rousing encore and it’s the prefect way to end a great set.

Great to dance to and all about having fun, the Kalakuta Millionaires would be a good draw on the festival circuit. Get up and get down.

Peace

http://www.vocalexplosion.co.uk

http://www.myspace.com/kalakutamillionaires

Last month’s gig review:

http://getoutgigging.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/the-kalakuta-millionaires-brunswick-pub-hove-sat-23rd-apr-2011/