Tag: Nottingham

THE B52s, Trapdoor Social, Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, 2-7-19

I remember when I was a kid, when I saw the B52s on TV, I thought “They’re quite unique”. So went  & bought a couple of picture discs by them. I got “Rock Lobster” & “Planet Claire”. My age would be around 13. Being so young, the chances of me seeing them live were pretty slim 😉 Move forward to 2019 & I got the chance to see them. I just HAD TO DO THE M&G experience. It was the best £250 I’ve spent on a ticket ever. Took a train from Boston to Nottingham, booked a hotel near the RCH & was all set to go. Must admit, as I’d not seen them before, I was wondering how good they’d be 😉 As instructed, I went to the box office (or a people say in the states “Will call”) to collect my VIP Laminate pass. I then went back to my hotel to relax for a while. When I went back to RCH, they’d just opened the doors. Went straight in, got my seat, looked around at the almost empty hall, thought to myself ” I think this is going to be an interesting night” 🙂

The support band, “Trapdoor Social”, to start off, I just didn’t get them. But when they were joined by people who played Trumpets, Trombones etc, they seemed to go to another level. (Apparently those guys were from Leeds). As they worked through their set, I liked them more & more. I must confess, sometimes I don’t listen to support bands, but, tonight I thought “Trapdoor Social” sounded great !

So onto what we’re all come for; The B52s ! They played what I expected they would play. The people in the stalls mostly stood up & had a good dance around. The atmosphere in there was one of absolute FUN. I took a few photos & attempted to film a couple of songs, but couldn’t help getting into the groove. Here’s a few of the photos & video clips I took on the night :

Before “Funlpex” Fred told some  ” Could you put your cell phone down please”. I thought that was quite a strange thing as there were a lot of people who were using there mobile phones. (Hell, on the row in front of me, a couple were taking selfies, with the band in the background ! ) But so be it….

As I previously said, I didn’t take many photos or video clips, as I was living in the moment . Towards the end of the show they played a couple of the old classics, namely “Love Shack”

And on the encore, the 1st song they played was “Planet Claire” , followed by ” 6060-842″ . Of course, they had to finish with “Rock Lobster”

They said their thanks to the crowd

then walked off the stage to massive applause What a great night this was ! But it’s not over yet for some of us 😉 Those doing the M&G had been told to wait at the merchandise stand & “Hope” would take us all backstage for the M&G. I mean, as if this night couldn’t get better : I’m going to meet the band ! ( To think three  years ago I was diagnosed with brain tumors & given two years to live & I’m still here is amazing.) During the M&G, we all stood in line to meet & briefly chat with the band members. Hope would take photos of everyone. When it was my turn, I told them that many years ago I bought the picture discs, & I thought I wouldn’t get a chance to see them. When I said that, Fred gave me his drum stick which he had been hitting the cowbell with. Great stuff.   As we all leave, we get a “tote bag” full of goodies. I’ve had a few of the “tote bags”, but, nothing can compare to this one : There’s a signed photograf , some pins (as they say in USA). Badges to you & me ;-), a key ring which could be used as a bottle opener. But the main thing, in my opinion, is the red squishy (rock) lobster 🙂 This was a fantastic experience. Absolutely loved it all. Had a quick walk to my hotel & when there, I think I fell asleep very quickly (Even though I was still buzzing after the whole experience.

P.S. My friend Nigel M. was in the balcony & he got a shot which included me ( In the middle, two rows back, grey hoodie, camera in hand )

PAPA ROACH + Nothing More, Rock City, Nottingham, 28-4-19

As is always the case, I took the earliest train out of Boston. But today, there was a 2 hour stay in Grantham. So I decided to go to The Tollmache & have some grub 😉 Wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be, so a good start. Walked back to train station then got the 15.09 to Nottingham. I’d worked it out that I’d have enough time before early entry. Straight to my hotel, “Roomzzz”. There was someone checking in before me, but once they were done, the chap looked for my booking (Didn’t have to say my name, as they all know me by face nowadays 😉 )
Got up to my room & noticed they were cleaning room next to mine. Opening the door I head a strange noise. It was the dishwasher that had been left on ! Tried phoning reception, but was busy. So went out & found a cleaner. She didn’t seem to understand English language, so I gestured to her to come to my room. She switched of the dishwasher…then switched it back on again ! Eventually, she got it that I wanted it off ! This was the start of my day going down hill….

I went to doors of RC at the set time, 5pm, & some people were queuing for the VIP M&G whilst others, like me, were waiting for the “Trust In Papa Roach” package. That cost £125. In the email I got about it, it said we’d get an autographed new CD & another merchandise item.
When the first VIPs went in, I noticed they were being searched. This is something that rarely happens at Rock City nowadays. They were being quite tight with the searches (I later overheard the head of security say it was a last minute thing as management requested it)
Later they brought out a load of tables. I assumed that would be so could search people quicker. I’m now stating to think “I wonder if their stopping all cameras in the search?”. I mean, usually they’ll let in any camera that doesn’t have a detachable lens. So decided to ask security if my camera would be allowed it. He said no. So I took it back to hotel. ( To think years back I used to record audio & stuffed it down my trollies, and now I’m giving in easily. But hey, it was expensive ticket). When I got back to RC, there were a few more queuing for the “trust..” package. I even had 2 different people ask if I was security ! Not had that happen in a while 😉 After standing for so long, I decided I needed to sit down. So sat on one of the previously mentioned tables. Oh forgot to say, all the beginning of the queue were quite rowdy, singing out loud PR songs. So going back to the tables outside, I sat on one for 5 or 6 minutes & it collapsed ! I did like a backwards somersault, whilst sliding down the table. Yes, those guys singing away laugh when they saw it happen. I was little bit dazed by what happened tbh. I think then someone amongst them realized, whilst it might have been funny to see happen, there was also the possibility i could have hurt myself. (Whoever you were, Thank You). I was quite surprised that security didn’t come rushing out, I was quite a clatter that happened. In the end, i had to tell one of them that the table had collapsed!
Another example of my day going downhill.

After a while, a chap comes out to give purple wristbands to the queue that’s doing the “In Papa Roach We Trust” package. I’d been given one earlier so they waved me through in to the foyer. The same chap was handing out the merch that was included in the “IPRWT”. From the email I received, I was under the impression we’d all be getting an autographed CD + a piece of merchandise. As is often the case nowadays, the other merch included was one of those rubbish “Tote Bags”. (I did question him about it, but he said “That’s it”). I then made my way into the venue proper. Guess what ? They DIDN’T search me or even check my ticket ! So if I’d had the guts, I coulda got camera in ! Oh well…

With not being able to take my camera in, I decided to see how well my mobile phone would cope. Needless to say, photos were grainy & the video clips i made were distorted. However, I must say that I really enjoyed both bands tonight.
I think I first saw Nothing More back in 2014, maybe opening for “Heavens Basement” ? I know that I saw them a bunch of times opening for “Halestorm” in 2015. Man, how they’ve progressed over the years ! I actually think they’re headline material nowadays. Their set list was :

Let ‘Em Burn , Christ Copyright ,Don’t Stop , Go to War , Do You Really Want It? , Fadein/Fadeout , Jenny (STILL a standout song),Ocean Floor,
This Is the Time (Ballast) , They finished with a cover of Queens song “We Will Rock You”.  

 

UFO , Tara Lynch, Rock city, Nottingham, 26-3-19

This one really made a change. For once I wasn’t going on the train ! My mate Andy T, drove us there. We set off around 2pm, weather looked a bit dark, but as we travelled further away from Bostonia, it got brighter. Shoulda took my sunnys with me. When we got to Nottingham, we walked from the station into town.(Via a slight diversion called FOPP) Then had lunch at The Roebuck. Surprised it wasn’t very busy. Next stop was Rock City to see if there was much of a queue or not. There was a small one. Also, they’d put barriers out the front, something that I’ve not seen them do before.
We’d still got an hour plus to kill, so went to Premier Inn & hung there for a while. (I had booked a room as it was so cheap)
About 15mins before doors, we went back to RC. Had to “jump the queue” so i could get a seat. Tonight, Andy was my “helper”, so a free ticket for him 😉 Managed to get a seat in my favourite spot (Thanks Kev) then the rest of the crowd came in. I Was surprised that it didn’t get very busy. But soon enough it did look a lot busier, which was good to see.

The opening act was “Tara Lynch”. Once again, they didn’t really impress me. As they were playing, I noticed the drummer was someone I thought I’d seen before. Sure enough, it was who I thought it was ; Joe Lazarus. Even he couldn’t “save” Tara Lynch band…that’s just my opinion.

By the time UFO hit the stage, Rock City has filled up a lot more. They amble on to the stage & start with a couple of old classics; “Mother Mary” and one of my faves “We Belong To The Night”

Instantly I notice Phil Mogg is in fine fettle tonight. As he’s now getting on a bit with age, it surprises me that he sings really well. Good on ya Mr Mogg ! ( I just wish that a couple of other oldie vocalists would wake up & realise they’re not as good as they used to be. Classic example : David Coverdale. There’s more guitar solos than him singing 😉 )
Tonight they also play “Venus”. According to internet chatter, this was the only time they played it on this tour. Lucky I caught it ;

It’s a cool song. Next they play “Lights Out”. It’s another song what they’re famous for. Phil tells us that they first played it at Rock City in 1982. Either someone gave Phil a wrong setlist or he had trouble reading it, he introduces “Cherry”, but they play “Baby Blue” !! hahah. He then says “I’m so sorry. Someone gave me the wrong setlist. This is called “Burn Your House Down”. What do they do? They play “Only You Can Rock Me” haha. He has a bit of a laugh about it 🙂 The  guitarist steps up to the microphone & says ” That was “Burn Your House Down”. I’m not keeping up with all these shenanigans !! Then they finally play “Burn Your House Down”.
We finally get “Cherry”

Next up is one of my all time faves ; “Love To Love”. Phil says there’s someone in the audience to dedicate it too. “Where is she ? Oh she’s in the toilet !” Sheer class !

It’s getting towards the end of the show now. What better way to finish with “Makin’ Moves” & “Too Hot To Handle”. Phil has a little joke about Andy being 52…but he said “I do apologise to him, it was a gross exaggeration & mischief making” . Wtf ? Erm, I’m lost now ! He then introduces “Too Hot To Handle”. I dunno if Phil had been back on the sauce again or what. I’m not remembering it all, maybe i got it wrong?

They appear to finish with the long version of “Rock Bottom”. But surely, that can’t be the end ? Of course not ! They encore with a quick couple of songs, namely “Doctor Doctor” & “Shoot Shoot”.
All in all, this has been a fantastic night out (Even though there was confusion from Phil, which in turn confused me haha)
These are the nights that I live for.
P.S. Didn’t take any photos tonight as I was mostly filming it & more importantly getting into the gig 🙂

 

Cats In Space + Blue Nation , Rescue Rooms, Nottingham , 15-3-19

This one was one of those “Last minute decisions”. So much so, that I printed my ticket at home. I’d heard a couple of people singing the praises about “Cats In Space” (Hello Dave Ling) so thought I’d go check ’em out. With the supposed line-up of Dirty Thrills, Rock Goddess & Cats In Space it was a no brainer really. Of course, shit happens as Jody from Rock Goddess got ill so they cancelled a few shows 🙁 Also Dirty Thrills didn’t turn up ! Oh well, lets make the most of it 🙂
Once again, I took a late train to Nottingham, arriving around 4.30 pm. Went straight to my hotel & chilled for a while. As per, I went to the venue 15mins before doors. Once I was in, I was shocked to see they hadn’t opened the balcony. Not only that, they put my seat on the only raised area near the merch. If you’ve never been to Rescue Rooms before, here’s a pic which shows where i was :  

The yellow line marks where the merch table went up to, whilst the red X marks where my seat was !  Tbh, it didn’t really get over busy. But the people who were there seemed to enjoy the show.
First act was “Blue Nation”. I’d never seen or heard of them ! They were a bit “Pedestrian”, but solid. In fact, I actually enjoyed their set. The singer was having a laugh with a couple of people in the audience. (Hello “Uncle Mick” & “Aunty Linda” 🙂 )

Later in their set they play a melody of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” & “I’ve Got A Feeling”. Wish I’d filmed that as it was quite decent.
The singer mentions George Harrison. Someone in the audience shouts out “Legend”. Next they play “She’s A Storm” .
They finish their set with a sing a long song “Down By The River”

After a while, the intro tape starts a rolling for “Cats In Space”. It’s a version of the old “Stray Cats” song, “Stray Cat Strut”.
They then come on stage to play a 1-2 of “Johnny Rocket” & “Too Many Gods”. Unfortunately, they have some sound problems during “Johnny Rocket”

They then play “Mad Hatter’s Tea Party” followed by “Clown in Your Nightmare”.    Before “Mr. Heartache” Paul Manzi says it was their first single. Then he says to us “I wanna hear some of your voices on this one….this is Nottingham right ?!” (Huge cheers)

As I’ve not seen the band before, i don’t know all the titles of their songs. But there’s good crowd interaction.
Later on they play “Hologram Man”

After that one, they played “The Greatest Story Never Told” ?
The main set is finished with “Five Minute Celebrity”

But it’s not all over yet, as they come back to encore with “Thunder in the Night”. As I’d not seen them before tonight, I was rather impressed by their show. I’ll definately go see them again if I can. After everything’s finished, I have the short walk back to my favourite Nottingham hotel, Roomzzz

 

 

TYKETTO, Kane’d, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham , 9-3-19

I’ve started taking later trains to Nottingham, so today I left good old Bostonia at 14.50. Journey was ok, no hold ups. Once in Nottingham, I went strait to Roomzzz. They know me there now as I stay so often. Even ask me which gig I’m going too 🙂 Basically stayed in hotel till 15mins before doors. Walked round to the Rescue Rooms & there was a fair sized queue. Spoke with a couple of security guys about needing a chair & got in early. Originally the lass put a seat over on the right side, looking over the stage. I don’t like being there, so got it moved to centre of the balcony. The prime spot position.
First band on tonight were “Kane’d”. Pretty sure I’ve seen them before, maybe at Camden Rocks festival, but for sure saw them opening for “Romeos Daughter” at Yardbirds, Grimsby back in 2014. They’ve certainly improved since then.
The lads in the band hit the stage first. Started jamming away, then the lasses came on. Everyone on stage gave it their all & I’m sure they won over a few of the crowd. Their set list tonight was :

Wasted, Show Me Your Skeleton,3-2-1, Hey, Hello, I Won’t Bite, I’ll Bring You Home, Reckless, Invidia, Covered in Roses, La di da (From setlist FM)

So to the main attraction : TYKETTO ! Over the years I think I’ve seen them about 10 times. Mostly at either the Rescue Rooms or Rock City. There’s always one thing that’s guaranteed with a Tykes show ; A quality night out ! Tonight’s show is SOLD OUT, so I’m sure the audience will make themselves heard.
The band kick off with ” Inherit the Wind ” & next play ” Meet Me in the Night “. Great stuff 🙂

Danny tells us that they’re recording tonight (same with the rest of the UK tour) which brings loud applause from the ever faithful crowd. Apologies for the darkness of the video clips, I just wasn’t on my game that night.
Danny then tells us the story about being dropped from the label (Geffen?) before “Strength In Numbers” could be released & also that “Music For Nations” was the best label they ever signed to. (Though sadly, MFN is no longer around)
After “Catch My Fall” it’s another classic “End Of The Summer Days”. At least we don’t have to Wait forever for the next song (Yeah, I know, not a good pun)

After that, we get a different version of “Wings”. The girls from Kane’d come onstage to give vocal support 🙂 Good to see all that hair on stage shaking around…& I’m not just talking about Danny 😉
Next up we get “Ain’t That Love”, closley followed by “Write Your Name in the Sky”

Soon enough we’re getting absolute classic Tyketto to finish the main set : “Rescue Me”, “Strength in Numbers”, “Forever  Young”. What a way to finish the show ! Bloody loved it. But wait, there’s more to come 🙂
The encore consisted of “The Last Sunset”, “Reach” & the superb “Standing Alone”.
Danny said he was struggling, so he expected the crowd would help him out…and they did

All in all a great night out. These shows are what I live for. I didn’t hang around afterwards because I was feeling quite tired. It’s VERY useful that Roomzzz is just around the corner.

Tyketto set list tonight was : Inherit the Wind, Meet Me in the Night, Catch My Fall, The End of the Summer Days ,Wait Forever,Wings ,Ain’t That Love, Write Your Name in the Sky, Why Do You Cry?, Rescue Me & , Standing Alone.

 

 

 

BUCKCHERRY , Hoobastank , Adelitas Way, Rock City, Nottingham, 15-2-19

This time I took a later train from Boston to Nottingham. Arrived Notts about half 3pm. Walked to “Roomzzz” & stayed there till about 15mins before doors opened at Rock City. Tonight was an early start, or rather, it should have been : Doors 5.30 ! They do this when there’s a club night after the gig & there’s usually a curfew of 10pm for the gig. So as usual, I went to venue 15mins before doors. Then had to wait till gone 6pm before was let in. During that wait, I saw members of Buckcherry were doing a Meet & Greet in the foyer. I didn’t even know that was happening. Unsure how many did the M&G but pretty sure there weren’t many. I Spoke to a couple of security guys about getting a seat, the second one dealt with that. Got my fave position in the venue & I sat there thinking “I wonder how busy it will be tonight ? ” (Earlier I’d seen they were doing “2 tickets for the price of for 1” at the London venue).
I hadn’t heard of the opening act “Alitas Way”. Can’t really say that i loved them, but they were entertaining. The singer said something like “…We’re Alitas Way from the USA. We’re pleased to be on this tour. Once we’ve finished it, we’re coming back for Download, then doing our own headline shows in venues similar to the size of here…”. Sorry, but I think you could only play “The Rig” headlining, seeing as tonight’s 3 band bill isn’t close to selling out. But credit due to them, by the end of their set, I’m sure they’d won over a few of the crowd. Something I’ve just remembered was that no one seemed to want to come in the area under the stairs. I wonder if it was because I was wearing my Rock City hoody ? (It’s been a while since anyone thought I was security 😉

Next up it’s Hoobastank. I last saw them in this venue back in 2015. A lot has changed for me since then. I think i was on the front row with a local friend & now I’m having to sit watching the show. I’ve got to say,  I wasn’t very impressed with their latest album.
Though they’re cover of “Tears For Fears ” song “Head Over Heals” is certainly different 😉 It’ll be interesting to see what the setlist is tonight. 
They have a short intro, ( I know this music, but can’t place it! Any ideas?) then just amble onto the stage & Doug says ” Hello Nottingham. What the fuck is up? We’re Hoobastank from Los Angeles California & we’re hear to make some noise !” They kick off with a song from their debut album, “Hoobastank”. “Pieces” is a great one to start with.

Next up it’s the classic “Out Of Control”. The audience lap this up. It seems to me that the set is going in the right direction i.e. not many of the new songs will be played tonight (That’s fine by me 😉 ) We then get “Remember Me” from their debut album. The audience is looking good bopping around 🙂 I quite enjoy hearing the funky “Inside of You” (From the album “Every Man For Himself”). Next it’s back up to full throttle with “Same Direction”. I’ve always preferred their first couple of albums, “Hoobastank” & “The Reason”, tbh I thought they went a bit down hill after those.

“Running Away” is typical Hoobastank. It’ a good one to wave your arms to 🙂 Tonight’s set is pretty damn good actually.
Doug puts a smile on faces when he’s talking about probably their biggest “hit”. He said something like ” If you know the song, you could help us out… if you don’t know it…fuck you ! “(he’s joking) . Just the intro chords of the song is enough for a cheer from the crowd. Again, it’s great to hear everyone totally getting into “The Reason ”

After that one, Doug says thank you to everyone, introduces the band members & they finish with “Crawling In The Dark” :

Considering time constraints, I think we got a pretty good show.

So to the headliners of tonight BUCKCHERRY. A lot has changed since I last saw them. They have new band members & Josh Todd is now the only original member of the band ! Really don’t know how this will affect things.
I did look at the online setlists before going & was pretty shocked to see they open with a cover song. Mind you, it’s a great song so I’m interested to see what they do with it… 

Well I suppose that is a sign that you should NOT try to change a song that was already unique for the right reasons ! After HLAH they play one of their own tunes; “It’s a Party”. That’s more like it 😉  Next they play a song of the 2014 EP “Fuck”; namely “Somebody Fucked With Me”. It’s kinda funny they had an EP where the song titles always included the word “Fuck” 😉 We then get a song from the “Black Butterfly” album (I’m sure I’ve got the Japanese version hidden somewhere), namely, “Don’t Go Away”. Tbh, I wasn’t over impressed with that album. But this song is cool. It’s one of those where it’s only natural to sway your arms…or have a slow waltz haha. No, joking aside, it’s a nice song !
From the “ying to the yang”, it’s an old classic “Lit Up”. Josh lets us know that the first time he took cocaine was off a Ouija board. Scared ? Nah..

They then go back to the “Fuck EP”. It’s kinda hard to believe that Josh loved “Icona Pop”, but by changing a few lyrics of the original, it became a nasty pop/rock song. To think at the time, the song ” I Love It ” (also featuring “Charli XCX” on vocals) was a disco smash hit & just by changing a few lyrics, it’s totally different. Oh yeah, anyone notice the AC/DC riff in there ? (I’m still unsure if it was a piss take or not!). All i can say is it’s a fun song (wish I’d filmed it, but was getting into the show)
They then play a song that’s off the forthcoming new album “Warpaint”. Warpaint, the song, is typical Buckcherry sound. I Wonder what the rest of the album will be like ? (Due to be released in March)
Next up is “Too Drunk…” Anyone remember the “Dead Kennedys”? The last few songs of the night were “Sorry”, “Bent” (Off the soon to be released “Warpaint” album), “Gluttony” & as ever, “Crazy Bitch” ;

 

Unfortunately there was a curfew tonight, so the sets seemed rather short….bloody club nights ! As always, didn’t have far to go to my hotel as it’s virtually next to Rock City. I’ll always recommend “Roomzzz” 🙂
Overall, I’d say my first gig of 2019 was OK. I’m sure the next one will beat it by a mile 😉