It's been awhile since my last post, quite a while, so apologies. Not a lot has changed, we have a new kitten, my eldest daughter will be going to Trinity Music College in Greenwich, London, her first choice and I am getting older, fatter and greyer.
This post is about music.
I never got punk the first time around. It could have been an age thing, being too young to appreciate the rebelliousness of the movement and the depression of young people at the time, the Sex Pistols et al were alien to me, I didn't get it, or it could simply have been that it didn't appeal to the Elvis and Eddie Cochran fan that I was at the time.
My life progressed and there was no reason for me to get. I enjoyed the pop punk movement but it wasn't real punk and then my wife took me to see the Damned but this was at a time when they were between the Captain and whilst they were amazing, they weren't a real punk band at the time, despite being the first punk band to release a record. Please don't mistake what I am saying, they were incredible live and I saw them a number of times.
Then the Captain rejoined and their career went off the rails as it has done many times and they were playing smaller venues. A number of years back they were playing the "White Horse" in High Wycombe, relatively local, so I went.
This was the night that I finally "got punk". They were incendiary from the first note to the last note, I finally understood real punk and what it meant. It was attitude, fire, fun and violence. This wasn't new age punk, this was old school, the real McCoy. Captain Sensible was the punk element of the Damned, Dave Vanian is a fine singer, underrated as a singer and a front man but it is the two them together that make it so good. They always had a better ear for a tune than their peers, "New Rose", "Neat,
Neat, Neat", "Love Song" and "Smash it up"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0ZhofmhIug
(As a note, they released an album a few years back, "So, who's paranoid?" A great album and well worth owning.)
Let me put this blog back on track, I needed to explain my relationship with punk and my definition of punk so you weren't confused with modern punk.
On Thursday last week I took my youngest daughter, all 15 years of her, to see the Wildhearts supported by the Von Hertzen Brothers and Hey Hello. All the stars had aligned for this one night, it was at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, the final night of the tour and the next day was a bank holiday. We got there early and chomped our way through Honest Burger in Camden, they do gluten free burgers, have a vegetarian option and are simply superb, the best burgers I have tasted. They don't do the American style burgers, the tastes can be subtle and the rosemary fries are just...words fail me and dribbling on the desk isn't one of my more attractive traits. Enough to say that if you are in London, they have 5 locations around the town, I've been to 3 of them and I recommend them.
Anyway, on to the gig. I love the Electric Ballroom, it is small and the atmosphere is always good. Hey Hello opened the show and they were great, good fun, lots of crowd participation and I can't wait for them to tour in their own right. This was the perfect way to start the night, Ginger supporting himself with a contrasting band in the middle but Victoria Liedtke of Hey Hello is the secret weapon, she has attitude and a voice, there is nothing more that need be said, Ginger sat back and let her handle the masses, she was both awkward and confident and I really hope she enjoyed herself as much as we did.
The Von Hertzen Brothers were also very good but different to the other two bands. I enjoyed them but wished I'd known more of their music, that in itself is a testament to them.
The Wildhearts hit the stage and the crowd started bouncing and they simply didn't stop. It was an epic gig, possibly the best I've ever been to, it was punk, real old school punk with pop, metal etc hooked into these huge choruses that the crowd sang, drowning out any chance the band had of being heard and all the while the moshpits were opening up but it was all smiles, none of the intent to hurt apart from the obligatory bruises. We estimated that my daughter was the second youngest person there but with an average crowd age of about 45, it wasn't difficult to spot the youngsters there with their Dads and that leads me to my biggest complaint, the Wildhearts should have been massive, they write huge pop choruses that are welded to worthy words and are easily one of the best live bands I've ever seen (very possibly the best) and they've even had chart success yet they are still unknown, it is criminal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ8gE6VQ518
My daughter loved it and believes it is the best gig she's ever been to, sorry Green Day but you are simply not the real deal anymore, The Wildhearts are aptly named and I recommend that they be seen live the next time they tour.
We both sat there on the Friday, depressed and coming down from an amazing night. I haven't had that feeling after a gig in many years, so roll on May 31st and the Camden Festival as Ginger is doing a solo set and the plan, at the moment, is to see him there.
But just to finish, punk is an odd thing. I understand it better than I ever did and I realise that it is a live experience, you couldn't possibly capture it on vinyl or even a DVD, you have to be there and then you will get it. Both the Damned and the Wildhearts showed me the real punk attitude and it doesn't matter how old we get, we never really get any older than the music we listen to...that's a bit tough on my wife, she loves Bach.
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I said the Wildhearts meld big hooked choruses to worthy words, just illustrate that point, the lyrics and a link to the video of "New Flesh" by the Wildhearts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuFGsDl0kLw
We are born into a time of innocent Americans attacked for trying to do a job while some Bin Laden motherfucker takes the credit, but instead of heading to Afghanistan to take him out they went to bomb Iraq and kill some families.
Children die because of some imaginary weapons and to find one of the many, many terrorists upon the planet meanwhile the psychopaths accountable for killing every innocent are all sitting safely out of range.
Armageddon orchestrated, televised and exaggerated.
We were lied to and we won't get fooled again.
We are the new flesh, we are the only ones left.
We're the dog you beat down once too much.
We're the cornered rat that will fight back.
We are born into a time our population is divided, poor and hungry people share the planet with the wealthy and the multi-billion industries pay politicians, actors and musicians more than it would take to shelter all the homeless, and the governments ignore the under funding of researching into mental health, allowing over 70% of people under-educated while the suicides per annum keep increasing and narcotics keep the treated pacified.
Fame and fortune un-donated by the over paid and the over rated.
We were lied to and we won't get fooled again.
We are the new flesh, we are the only ones left.
We're the dog you beat down once too much.
We're the cornered rat that will fight back.
This virus breeds inside your system.
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