The Damned Darkness that spawned the Hollywood Vampires.

It was a night that could've been a very expensive glorified karaoke, a headliner blown away by superb opening acts but instead it delivered 3 different gigs and some poignant moments as well as a new found respect for a band that should live forever.

Let's start at the beginning, this all stemmed from my youngest daughter missing out on the Damned at Koko and, through what has been a tough time for her, I bought her tickets to see the Hollywood Vampires at Wembley, supported by the Damned and the Darkness, to cheer her up. I was fairly ambivalent about it all, viewing the Hollywood Vampires as more of a tribute act and not being a fan of the Darkness, I would've been going to see the Damned and as I now have tickets to see them in November, I wasn't too fussed but Anouska does view gigs as a Daddy/Daughter thing and this one was important to her, she loves the Darkness and is mad about Aerosmith so seeing Joe Perry was a major part of this. I have to admit that I've never seen Alice Cooper so I was interested to see him.

The first issue was seeing that the Damned were coming onstage at 7pm and I work in Buckingham. A generous boss and an extra 15 minutes meant that I was in the gig shortly after the Damned came on stage, missing a minute or so of the first song. They were amazing, easily good enough to headline this place by themselves, Dave Vanian, master of the dark arts, a voice that is a gothic baritone, crooning his way through some of the songs and using the venom and bite of the erstwhile punk that still dwells somewhere within, to bring attitude to the likes of "New Rose", "Neat, Neat, Neat" and "Love Song", songs that couldn't be recreated by any of the new "punk" bands. But the Damned were never just a punk band, from the majesty of "Eloise" to the urgency of "Ignite" and the 50's noir of the last single "Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow", this isn't a band that is standing still, this isn't a tribute act to an age past, this is a revitalised and exciting prospect that confound and surprise. Let's put it this way, my daughter was absolutely amazed by them.

The Darkness are not a band that I have much interest in, I don't like Justin Hawkins' falsetto although I do think he is a very good guitarist. However, more recently, the songs I've heard have been really good, I've really liked the last couple of singles but they are still not a band that I would see through choice..but that was all about to change...
Simply put, they were refreshing, so enthusiastic, a real throwback to 1982 and the excitement of the NWOBHM, they are a classic English rock band, running through a set of killer songs that work so well live. I am a convert, they were fantastic live, funny, rocking and outrageous, I finally got them. The great thing is that I couldn't make a comparison between them and the Damned, it was like I was at 2 separate shows, so totally unrelated.
The Darkness are a good time rock band, they are immense fun to watch and you can't help but smile, they are endearing and, like the Damned, quintessentially English. There is a dearth of headline acts for the big festivals coming up as the older bands will be finished over the next few years and maybe the Darkness need to up their game and get back to the big stages, they are the natural heirs to headline the festival circuit and they will do it fantastically well.

On to the main act and a sold out Wembley had been rocked by the best support acts I have ever seen, the headliners had a show to put on.
The strains of "Bela Lugiosi's Dead" by Bauhaus eerily echoed across a gothic and fog laden stage and then roar of Joe Perry's guitar started the show. It was truly epic, exciting and poignant. Alice Cooper was the ringmaster, the focal point of the show and what a truly dazzling frontman he is, captivating, part Freddie Krueger and part vaudeville, a man of many faces, all of them Alice Cooper, baton twirling, top hat wearing and timeless. Joe Perry looked great and his guitar playing is as loose and natural as ever. Johnny Depp was part Jack Sparrow, a smile here and there, some very good vocal duties and a man all over the stage but Alice Cooper...he was the master of the stage, an actor, a singer, the consummate performer, he was just incredible.

Cooper channeled Jim Morrison as the backdrop showed the Doors and their fallen frontman, various stills to honour the dead. A biting version of "Ace of Spades" sung by the bass player (great voice) and various other Hollywood Vampire songs and each showed the rockstars that we had lost, Lennon, Lemmy, Cornell, Prince, Lynott, Scott, Nilsson, Bonham, Moon, a list that is far too long and it did hit home and I finally understood what the Hollywood Vampires are, they are not a karaoke act, they are a tribute to friends and heroes that have died throughout the years, an act of love and respect. This is a band that has been around as a tribute for a few years and they have a revolving membership, but they were a band that didn't tour, they played shows with whoever showed up but this was taking the show on the road and I really hope that it is a band that continues to release and tour, constantly evolving as members "leave" because I think they are amazing and I love the idea behind it, this is no ego trip, it is an homage and I get it and love it. This is the other band that should be headlining festivals across Europe, who wouldn't want to hear Bowie's "Heroes" played by this band and sung by Johnny Depp and his understated vocal, just as Bowie sang it. Who doesn't want to hear them play "School's Out" to close the show, seguing into "Another Brick in the Wall"? It was brilliantly realised.

This was a genuine event, more than a gig, and with three such great bands together to form this unholy trinity, I would leap at the chance to see this all over again but UK festivals spring to mind, the Hollywood Vampires have the associated rock stars to enable them to headline the festival circuit and because they are such a unique prospect with the band's personnel and the songs they play, they would have a huge appeal. My idea of fun is not standing in a muddy field, it would take a lot for me to do that again but maybe I would for this lot...

I hope that Ginger can overcome his demons...From gigs to depression and back again.

Monday night I went to the Craufurd Arms in Stony Stratford to see Ginger Wildheart touring his "Songs from the Tanglewood" album. This was a mellow, country flavoured album, not to my usual taste and I am not a country fan but the album does have some cracking songs on it and Ginger live, is always a joy to behold.
I'd not been to the Craufurd Arms before and my initial feeling was what a nice bunch of people. I flagged down a random person outside the venue who was kind enough to tell me where the nearest Chinese Takeaway was. Getting back to the venue, the person I had asked was Nathan, Front of House Engineer for the venue and a genuinely nice guy. He is a huge Wildhearts fan and was seriously chuffed to be hosting this gig and entertaining Ginger.
The venue is great, the pub part has a pool table and some "stained glass windows" with some proper rock n toll saints portrayed in them:

As a venue, they were really laid back and pretty chill about what they allowed. I asked if I could take my DSLR in and they said that it should be OK but be prepared that if there were any objections from the band, I would be asked to stop and it was a definite no to using a flash.

Prior to the gig, they had a big screen in the main pub to show the England vs Tunisia game. What a borefest, when a member of staff came round to tell everyone that Ginger would be on 15 mins earlier and I did ask if he could come on earlier than that so we could stop watching the goddawful match.

Anyway, I enjoyed the gig, it is always a pleasure to hear Ginger but he was not in a good place and I am pleased that he is honest with us about how he feels. He is a man with depression and he does the right thing and talks about it, it is all about changing the perception of mental illness, changing the way we don't talk about it or highlight it. Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington are 2 high profile cases where an awareness of mental health might have made a difference, or maybe not, but we'll never know. Ginger is open about his issues but there is still a severe lack of understanding, he tells us how he is feeling and the well intentioned response from the audience is a cheery "We love you Ginger", it is sincere and well meant but it sounds all wrong, if treating mental illness was as simple as telling someone they matter, we'd have cured it by now!
On one level, it would be easy to criticise Ginger for telling us his problems but the reason he has the support he has, is because he is honest, he wears his heart on his sleeve and the "Tanglewood" album is about mental health, so on some days he feels sh*t, I would rather he aired it than bottled it up. This got a bit more serious than anticipated but then I did leave the gig with a more serious head on, he finished the set telling us not be a c**t like him and if we have mental issues, to take the time off and talk with someone.

Anyway, it wasn't the best gig in terms of Ginger's standards, but it was still a great night. I enjoyed the set, it was great to see Jase Edwards from Wolfsbane on guitar (one of Britain's finest, I kid you not) and the songs always make me happy and then drag me down the next day as I start to feel like something is missing in my soul, ask my daughter, she feels that too after a Ginger/Wildhearts gig.

Here are some shots I took with my DSLR:

I hope that Ginger can overcome his demons, he deserves some respite and I hope that other people with these problems will talk to a professional, that is the only way to deal with the mind, speak with someone that understands the various conditions.
I have limited experience with depression, I know what it is and felt it once but it was more like plunged into depression and out again, rather than having depression (cutting out a few family members cured mine). It doesn't mean that I have any idea on how to speak with someone that has depression, I learned more about it last night than in the whole of my life and I have to say that it was jarring to witness but makes me all the more grateful that I don't have mental issues and also more helpless because it is something that I will encounter in my life, through personal experience or friends, and I will have no way of helping the situation.
I have had a couple of friends commit suicide but being younger by many years and in what feels like a different age, we put it down to life's tragedies and not mental illness. Could I have made a difference? I think on one of them I could have stopped it if I'd recognised the signs, I knew there was a problem and suicide did cross my mind but I put it down to a stupid thought. Unfortunately a mere few hours later it was real, but we all have those stories, even my eldest daughter has been through it a few times and I can't help but feel I am just now sitting in the sunlight blinking and wondering why all of a sudden I can see and why aren't we addressing these issues? How odd that a gig seems to have taken the blinkers off issues of mental health for me.

Despite how this all sounds, Ginger is a great live act, he has written and continues to write some great music and it is simply criminal that he isn't a huge star. He is definitely one of the hardest working people in music as this current tour adds extra dates everyday and it will overlap with the Wildheart shows over the next few months or so.See how schizophrenic this blog is? From gigs to depression and back again.

Here is some live footage from an instore performance: Daylight Hotel

And a video from an earlier album: If You Find Yourself In London Town

Greta Van Fleet- the new Messiah's of Rock or just very naughty boys?

Was it the hottest ticket in town? I suspect it might have been. The Electric Ballroom in Camden was sold out, I have never seen it so packed. It was a hot sweaty box of all ages, old and young, all to see some jumped up youngsters of 21 and under, play like Led Zep, or so the comparisons go.

It is an interesting night, the comparisons are close in some ways and off in others. I found them somewhere between led Zep and the Black Crowes and somewhere between contrived and exciting. They came on to an audience that knew the words to all 8 of their songs and an audience that hung off every note, they really couldn't have failed tonight if they'd come on playing ukeleles and reciting George Formby songs, so worshipful was their church.
My initial reaction was that they were contrived and I started to point it out to my friend who didn't wholly agree when the guitarist started to play his guitar behind his head...my point was proved...for now.

They had all the moves of Led Zep, a singer that could hit the same notes but lacked the conviction that Plant put into his notes, he had all the same moves but it felt rehearsed, like someone had watched "The Song Remains the Same" too many times. As the night wore on, they loosened up and my misgivings seemed to fade into the night. There were so not so great moments when the set seemed to drag a bit but many more moments of excitement. For all my whining, I had many moments when it felt like I might be witnessing the new Kings of the Rock, they found their groove and they could do anything but they need time and more songs. Live they were great and my youngest daughter would love them to bits. I am sure that the album due early next year will be spectacular and I can honestly say that they way they ended their set was amazing, as they played the last song, they segued into the opening number, not something I've ever seen before and a really nice touch that just shows how well rehearsed they are. The encores were excellent and showed an audience in great voice.

I have my misgivings but that is something that time, experience and an albums worth of material on top of the two EP's that they currently have, will fix.

Are they the new Messiah's of Rock? I really don't know and I think it is too early to tell but they are definitely what the kids of today need, something of their age that mixes the old into the new. I shall probably never see them live again, not because I didn't like them but because they should be the band for the kids and I will donate my ticket to someone of the right age, someone that can do the band justice, not an old fogey that will pick holes in them because they are mimicking the old school when they are probably exactly what rock needs right now. That is probably the truth, I am too old for them!