Nottingham – Page 5 – Gig Addiction

Pretty Reckless, Cruel Knives, Rock City, Nottingham, 19-1-17

I’d been looking forward to this one for a while. Not only the gig, but a chance to spend a little time with someone. Unfortunately, the latter plans fell apart.”The System” seems to do that sometimes. Can be so frustrating… So anyway, i decided to not go too early as i’d only end up spending money around Nottingham!

I was very curious how the support act “The Cruel Knives” would be. If you’re not aware, they are a new band formed by a couple of the guys from “Heavens Basement” (what a great band they were) namely ; Sid Glover & Rob Ellershaw . The band is completed by Tom Harris & Al Junior. They’ve obviously got some good connections in the business as they are now opening for The Pretty Reckless all around the UK/Europe.
Upon arrival at Rock City, i noticed they hadn’t posted the times for the night. Also, they’d not put out the barriers. Immediately, i thought something wasn’t quite right.
There wasn’t a queuing system, it was a mess. Some people had paid extra to be VIPs. What they were supposed to get for that was EARLY ENTRY + a poster. (Ah yes, i remember doing VIP for TPR which included a photo with the band…which didn’t happen. But hey they’ve got your money & when you try arguing , well it’s pointless…).
So, as there was no info being given out, there were quite a few punters who were not impressed. From a personal point of view it was getting really hard for me to stand outside for so long. I eventually had to sit on the steps. But the biggest annoyance was one of the RC security guys! When one of the VIPs tried asking him a question, he said something like ” Calm down !”. Erm no mate, YOU are the one that needs to calm down & LISTEN to the people who have paid to see the show. He was basically a bully. Totally ignorant & showed no compassion what so ever. The problem was that the band were very slow with soundcheck so doors just kept getting pushed back. I understand if security are not getting good info, they are in an awkward place. But as an example of how differently some security deal with this, later on, the HEAD of security came out & said something like “….they’ve told us they’re going to be a while…”. He then said “….i interpret that as it will be a long time….”. He was calm & collected as he told this message, unlike the arrogant twat from earlier on. Good vs bad eh? I won’t even bother mentioning about the whole early entry & bar stool for disabled people like myself & the others….
The only good thing(s) to come of the delays was i saw an old mate who i’d not seen since around the time of my seizure & also got chatting to a couple who’d traveled from Mablethorpe area. (Hello if you’re reading this !) When we finally got in, i helped them by showing where to go & also got them a bar stool.
I got my fave spot on balcony so was reasonably happy.

So first up it’s “The Cruel Knives” . First song everything just seemed too loud & had a poor mix (maybe they didn’t get a line check due to TPR taking so long?). As they went along, it did improve. It’s good to see that Sid hasn’t changed & is still the show-off in the band 🙂 (That’s meant in a nice way. He knows when the cameras are on him & hes a fantastic guitarist). I was unsure if it really was Rob Ellershaw up there ! The new “Liam Gallagher” hair style totally threw me 🙂 Hearing everything for the first time is always hard to take in. Overall, i thought there were some good songs & it’s all very upbeat. There’s potential as, to me, they don’t sound like most of the typical young bands. It’s more solid rock. I wanna see them again.

The sound of “Hells Bells” & various other classics are played over the PA before The Pretty Reckless take to the stage. The guys just casually walk on & start playing, then Taylor comes on. The screams from the girls in the crowd are very loud ! As ever, Ms Momsen is sassy wearing her long leather coat. I don’t care what anyone says, this really is the Taylor Momsen show. Tonight we get songs from the past few albums, starting with old favorites “Follow Me Down ” & ” Since You’re Gone “. As i don’t have the latest album, i didn’t know what to expect from the new stuff. “Oh My God ” is typical TPR with a barrage of drums. By now either the sound is getting better or i’m just getting used to it ! Interestingly, the next song, “Hangman”, is something very different for TPR. It’s nice to see the variety going on in that song. One of the biggest problems tonight are the long silences between songs. It kinda kills things. Blaming it on the jet lag is a cheap get out clause.

Ah cant beat a bit of classic TPR! Great vocals from rock city crowd 🙂
Tonights show features a bunch of songs from the latest album “Who You Selling For “. There are way too many silences between songs. A few problems with equipment ( “….my mic stand keeps falling over….hired gear haha…”) & a general lack of flow. Jet lag eh ?! I don’t think they reached their stride tbh.

Towards the end of the set they play ” Living In The Storm” & that was the most animated we saw Taylor tonight.

Of course, all that buggering about & delayed doors has the knock on effect because there’s a curfew of 10pm tonight. Yep, you guessed it, the club/disco is from then. So a few songs must have been dropped from their set. Even though their set was officially over, the crowd kept shouting for an encore. When the house lights went up, there were certainly a few “Boos” in the crowd. I hope they bring their game next time so we don’t feel so cheated….

Airbourne, Crobot , The Amorettes, Rock city , Nottingham, 19-11-16

Reckless Love, The Treatment, Rock city , Nottingham, 18-11-16

It’s always cool when it’s possible to do “2-nighters” at places & this was the first of them (The second being Airbourne). I had hoped i wouldn’t be “alone” over the next days, but it didn’t quite work out for Tess as her sister was over. As is always the case, book early & the hotels etc are cheaper. I stayed at the Premier Inn Nottingham West, which is at the end of the tram line. A great little thing is if you’re going to an event in Nottingham, the tram ticket is only £2 return ! (Just have to show your gig ticket if there are inspectors checking) It worked well for me.
As luck would have it, an old neighbour from 30+ years ago(?) was also doing these gigs, so a nice chance to catch up.
I managed to get the early entry to Rock City & the chap had sorted out a bar stool for me. What surprised me was it wasn’t in the balcony, but under the stairs. Not that it bothered me as it’s still a great view from there. The surprise, especially after Reckless Loves last gig at RC, was they hadn’t sold enough tickets to open the balcony! It’s kinda cool to be in RC & the place is empty

The opening act tonight were ” The Treatment “. I great bunch of lads who have a positive attitude & always put on a high energy show. I’ve seen them live a few times over the years. Their manager is Laurie Mansworth who used to me in the band ” Airrace” (If you’re older you may also remember the ’80s NWOBHM band ” More ” ). It’s cool to see him side stage really getting into the band :

As is always the case, the band get a great reaction from the crowd at Rock city.

Reckless Love are a band that are made for Rock City ! Of the 7 times they’ve played there, i’ve seen 5 of them (Started playing in the Basement & got too big for there). I do find it a little strange that it’s not a bigger audience tonight, especially as it’s one of only two shows in the UK (But saying that, the last couple of times they didn’t open the balcony)
The show starts with ” The Boys Are Back In Town” being played over the PA. It’s then straight into “Animal Attraction”. Oli briefly soaks up the affection from the crowd before they go into ” So Happy I Could Die “…with a huge scream from him at the start :

Next up it’s “Monster”. After that, Oli mentions Pepe & him being a Pretty Boy. Yup, we’re about to get the live debut of ” Pretty Boy Swagger ” 🙂 It was pretty decent.
Then we get the double hitter of ” Beautiful Bomb” & “Badass”. There’s some good audience interaction/clapping during “Badass”.

The rest of the night it’s all about having a good time. The band seem as into it as the audience are. They encore with “We Are The Weekend” & the last song of the night is the classic ” Hot “. A great night out for sure.
Afterwards we go to the The Gooseberry Bush pub where myself & Tim (the old neighbour) have a good catch up & he tells me his woes about recently splitting with his wife.
We eventually say our goodbyes & i take the tram back to my hotel, whilst Tim tries to figure out how to get to his hotel out Stapleford way !

Saxon, Fastway, Girlschool, Rock city , Nottingham ,9-11-16

Andy drove us there in my car (i’m not allowed to drive now) so gave it a nice run again. Parked up at Park n Ride. Cheap tram ticket as going to an event (Only £2.00 return). Went to the usual place for food & then to the venue. Was nice to briefly chat with Hana (front of queue as ever & had done the V.I.P. M&G). Hadn’t seen her in ages. Then went had a chat with my mate Gary (Pleased to hear all went well mate 😉 ) Soon enough, we were first people in venue. They didn’t have any bar stools upstairs so had to wait a while for those to arrive. Still managed my usual spot 🙂

First band tonight was Girlschool. I’ve been seeing them live since 1982, with my first gig at Leicester De Montfort hall. In the mid ’80s i traveled to a bunch of places around the UK to see them. Tonight, it’s going to be a short set, 30 minutes or so. Personally, i’d sooner see them switch positions with Fastway & get a longer set. I guess it’s down to “politics”. Whatever, they played a great little set. They kicked off with “Demolition Boys” , from the debut album “Demolition”. Then went into the title track of their second album ” Hit & Run ”

It was quite funny when Kim asked if anyone remembered “Rockstage”. That was a tv show where they broadcast gigs from the Theatre Royal,Nottingham in the early ’80s. Girlschool were featured on the same show as Motorhead which was broadcast in 1981. The general consensus was “…you really are far too young to remember it aren’t ya !? “.
Kim dedicated the song ” Take It Like A Man ” to Fast Eddie as this was the last night that Fastway would be on this tour. Next they played ” Future Flash”. That’s always been one of my all time fave songs of theirs. Enid then gets to sing the oldie ” Watch Your Step “. The show finishes with ” Emergency ” (what else could it be ? 😉

Next up it’s Fastway. Whilst there’s no denying there’s some legendary musicians in the group, it was a band i could never get into back in the day. Tonight i also thought Fast Eddies guitar was too loud. “What?” you’re saying? It can never be loud enough ;-). Or maybe it was more a point of Tobys vocals seemed a wee bit too low in the mix? Either way, i’m sorry to say that everything just seemed to merge into one.

Finally it’s Saxon. What a band & what a career they’ve had all these years ! The one constant during those times (even if there were a few weaker albums) is you know you’re gonna get a great live show ! They always play nice long sets & often change the set lists along the way. ( A good example being, i heard it was very cold in Sheffield & the audience requested ” Frozen Rainbow “…the band played it 🙂 )
I’m not going to list all the songs they played, but you can be sure they covered stuff from all through their career. Interesting choice of intro tape ; ” It’s a long way to the top (if you wanna rock n roll)”. I’ll always associate that with Twisted Sister from back in the day 😉 When intro finished, they brutally hit us with ” Battering Ram ” followed by a nice fast one ” Heavy Metal Thunder “.

Stand out tracks for me tonight were ” See The Light Shining “(change to set list) ,”Strong Arm Of The Law ” & ” Princess Of the Night “.

They played something like 21 (?) songs tonight. Such great value. As a footnote, it’s great to see that Saxon are (yet again) on the rise. Many dates have either sold out or been very close to selling out. Good on ya guys 🙂 Denim & Leather brought us all together…

Nottingham ROCKS!!!!

Posted by Saxon (Official) on Thursday, 10 November 2016

EDIT 11-1-18 : With the news of Fast Eddie Clarke passing away, i thought it suitably apt to upload this song

FM ,Bernie Marsden, rescue rooms, Nottingham 29-10-16

Ady picked me up around 4pm. Once in Nottingham, we parked on a side street which was free, but a bit of a walk to venue. Ady went off for a Subway whilst i went to sort out my bar stool in the venue. We went up the back stairs in the bar & she left me a stool there. Seemed silly to have to go back outside, but i guess it’s protocol. Once outside, i bumped into Carl & Lisa. Wasn’t expecting to see them, so was a nice surprise. Had a good old chat 🙂 Once we were let in i went straight up to balcony. My stool had gone! There was a couple on the right side with a stool & a bloke on his own on the left with a stool. Seemed obvious the bloke on the left wasn’t disabled, so i asked him ” Are you disabled?” His reply was ” No”. So i told him he’d took my stool ! He was fine about it. Easy mistake to make 😉
First act was Bernie Marsden (ex Whitesnake). Being honest, i wasn’t looking forward to it! But, i found his banter was funny & he certainly sings a LOT better than Coverdale nowadays 😉 Ended up really enjoying his set as did most of the audience by the looks/sound of things.

It’s quite amazing to think that ” Indiscreet ” was released 30 years ago ! That would make me 20 years old at the time. When i look back to that era now, i think how lucky i was to be experiencing the early years of acts like Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer etc etc Unique times for sure. But i digress…
FM start with the usual intro & go straight into “Digging Up The Dirt”. Then it’s an old classic “I Belong To The Night”. Only two songs in & the whole crowd seems to be behind them. As always, Steve Overlands vocals are spot on. It’s funny how some singers from the same era are sounding rough nowadays & yet Mr Overland is pure quality as ever.

We get a couple more old classics from the album ” Indiscreet”, namely “Let Love Be The Leader”

…..followed by the hit “Frozen Heart”. I always associate “Frozen Heart” with a lass i was seeing back in the day during that era.
There’s good crowd interaction on ” Face To Face ”

They play all the tracks from ” Indiscreet ” tonight & it’s fleshed out by songs from the albums ” Heroes & Villains ” & ” Rockville “. I found it interesting they encored with ” Story Of My Life “. I always thought it “plodded along” tbh. However, i’d imagine a lot of fans like it as they may see it as an “anthem” & something to wave the arms about 😉
The strangest thing of the night for myself though, in a similar vein to what Heart did recently, was they finished the show with a couple of cover songs by Whitesnake (Heart did the same playing Led Zep) ! Ok, it’s obvious it gives them the chance to jam with Bernie & the songs were great,but, i prefer bands to finish with their own songs 😉
Whatever, it was a great night !

Band Of Skulls, + Bones, rock city, Nottingham 25-10-16

I really like ” Bones ” & had never seen ” Band Of Skulls ” before, so thought i’d give it a go. I got totally lucky with my hotel as it only cost me £10 (Yes, a tenner !) Just look at this place for the amazing value i got :

Took a late train to Nottingham as couldn’t check in till 3pm. Chilled in my room using the free wifi. Found out a friend, Diletta, was also here for the gig. She’s a massive fan of Bones 😉 Unfortunately they hadn’t sold enough tickets to open the balcony. So myself & another couple went to my 2nd favourite position, under the stairs ( It’s raised here)
Place was slow to fill up, but eventually there were not many spaces on the main floor.
I’d imagine Bones were new to most of the crowd. I’d previously seen them open for Skunk Anansie & also PVRIS, so knew what to expect. To start off there wasn’t much “movement” amongst the audience, but, they were gradually turned onto the band as their set progressed. I made a few videos 😉

Their short set ( 30mins? ) went by very quickly & they finished with the one two of ” Girls Can’t Play Guitar ” (preceded by telling the crowd about the infamous guy in Camden who said the immortal line “Girls Can’t Play Guitar”) then final song ” Pretty Waste “.

Band Of Skulls i really don’t know much about. First thing i noticed tonight was how their back drop of 3 ecclesiastical looking windows reminded me of a similar thing ” The Mission ” did back in the ’80s ! Move the outside ones closer to the centre & there you have it . By now the main floor was considerably more busy.
They kick off with ” In Love By Default ” & then it seems to be the same setlist most places on this tour with “Light Of The Morning” , ” Himalayan” & ” Bodies” following.

Sometime pretty early on, i was filming a song & got a tap on my shoulder. It was Diletta coming up to see me. She didn’t realise this was the “disabled area” & the chap behind me who i’d been chatting to kinda of tried to make her move. Once he realised we knew each other, he was fine. ( Afterwards when we talked about that brief moment, Diletta said ” It was like he was your personal security !”. Funny & good point 😉 )

Before “Patterns” , Russell mentions how they love playing in Nottingham 😉 This song really starts to get the crowd going during the singback section. They then jump forward to present day with the song “So Good” from the most recent album ” By Default “. Very smooth how they merged from one song to the next.

I knew something interesting would be coming as Matt, the drummer, was given a guitar. So had to film this track. Turned out to be an old song which had been used a few years back on a tv show (A little digging & i found a bunch of their songs were used on tv shows & movie soundtracks over the years). There were some great little vocal harmonies going on between Russell & Emma

The rest of the night it was more high energy songs & i’ve got to say, i really enjoyed the night. The couple near me left early. I assume to beat the swathes of people leaving at once ( She needed a stick, so wise choice i reckon) They finished with ” Asleep At the Wheel ”

Afterwards, briefly had a chap with Diletta & then i went back to my hotel. Oh yeah, before hotel i went in multi storey next door & scanned an app where each time you park there, after 6 scans i think, you get free parking session. Whatcha mean….my car wasn’t there ?
The following morning, before checking out of my fantastic hotel, there was one last piece to be completed here : ” The Grab & Go ” breakfast ! At no extra charge, they have pastries, muffins, croisants, coffee, juice etc. Would love to stay here again….at the right price 😉

Virginmarys (Missed Feeder) , Rock City, Nottingham, 14-10-16

What can i say except my day started pretty shitty when i awoke to a couple of Whatsapp messages. My mate Rob was meant to be driving today but illness put a stop to that. Then there were msgs from a close friend who seemed in a bad place (to say the least). What to do ? After a few attempts to contact,with no replies, i decided : Priorities. I couldn’t help the friend so i had to look into if it was possible to go Nottingham or not. With it being so last minute, i couldn’t find any hotel which i thought was reasonably priced. (There’s no way i’d use a scummy B&B as it’s too easy to pick up bugs etc…especially with my immune system being rubbish nowadays). I was all set to write it off when Rachel suggested i go see Virginmarys & come back home. I thought the last train would be earlier than it was. Realising it was an early start for the gig (Kick out 10pm so they can have the club night), it was possible to go ! So off i went ! Another train ticket purchased, Nottingham here i come 🙂

When i got to the venue, i explained to security that i’d been chatting to someone about getting a bar stool (as sometimes i get tired nowadays) & they agreed to let me in a little early, “Just ask at the bar for a stool”. On the way in, i saw Alixe still setting up merch so quickly grabbed the new yellow t-shirt ! Yay ! Finally i got a VMs T-shirt 😉

Once upstairs, got the bar stool & set up in my usual position centre of balcony. Jobs a good un !
The place didn’t fill up that quickly & i’m sure many people missed the usual killer set from the headliners…erm i mean Virginmarys 😉 They kicked off with ” I Wanna Take You Home “. Always a good one to get you in the mood. Next up it’s ” Halo In Her Silhouette “. The band are on fire,unlike what can be said of the audience. Seems pretty tepid down there & not a single person on the front row seems to be getting into it. Their loss.

Next up it’s an old classic (well, it IS !) “Dead Mans Shoes “. Just flys by.
Ally asks the crowd if anyone has seen the band before…maybe opening for Skunk Anansie here ? Pretty much silence from the crowd except for one lonesome voice. He in turn dedicates next song to her…

It’s quite fun to see Gareth playing invisible drums sat behind Ally 😉
We then get an oldie but goodie ” Running For My Life “. I just love hearing this stuff. I actually find it a little annoying that the guys are really working their assess off up there & the crowd just seems a bit lame 🙁 We’re then brought up to the latest album “Divides” & the plough through ” Into Dust “. Another 3 or so songs & we’re at the finishing line with ” Just A Ride “. It’s just great & i get the added bonus of a shout out from Ally at the end 🙂 Nice one mate!

Sometime during the show Ally mentioned there will be more *headline*shows later in the year. Whoo Hoo ! Also mentioned the “food donations” from his recent solo show & probably doing it again later in the year. I don’t want to misquote, but, i’m also pretty sure he said something about they’ll play anywhere “So if you could put us up for the night, that would be cool “. ** Don’t take that as gospel ! ** I had hoped to try verify some of the quotes after the gig, but i ran out of time to be sure of catching my train home.
I did have a good old chat with Alixe though. Very pleased to hear these dates were not a “buy on” as often happens nowadays. Proud they’re doing things their own way as always 🙂 Must confess, it did seem strange to be leaving Rock City so early, but everything ran smooth & most important thing was i got to see the VMs 🙂

31-10-16 EDIT : Ally has just confirmed about wanting to do gigs for food donations https://www.facebook.com/TheVirginmarysOfficial/videos/1436101046417369/

Against The Current, Beach Weather, As It Is ,rescue rooms, Nottingham , 28-9-16

After the recent disappointment of having to miss Hands Of Grettel in London (Due to the puking from my meds) I was really looking forward to this one. I love a bit of good old ” pop rock ” 🙂
My train travel went fine & as i walked past Rescue Rooms it was already quite busy as the band were doing meet n greets later. I was soon checked into my hotel. Just had to stay there a while to get the energy levels back up (Once again, i’d been surprised that walking from train station into town took it out of me so much. I think i still expect too much…)
When i went back to venue, half the queue had gone.(M&Gs). After a while my mate Jason & his missus Kristy arrived. Was good to have a catch up. Once inside the venue, for the first time ever that i’ve known, they had the lighting desk up on the balcony. I asked if i was ok to be where i was & reply was “yeah, but we’ll put out barrier later”. I assumed that meant just around the lighting desk. Later it turned out the were sectioning off & effectively losing half the balcony for punters! They told me to move,but, after explaining i’d been waiting a long time & was under impression i’d be fine, the guy said “Ok stay there,but if security come up, you’re on your own”. So yep, i was now winging it 😉
Gotta admit, i couldn’t get into “Beach Weather” or ” As It is “. I just find these bands a little boring nowadays. One of the kids had nice hair though lol. Seriously, i think i was more on edge about security kicking me out, so couldn’t really take them in (Even if i wanted too)
An intro & then Against The Current were on stage. It kinda threw me the way the stage was kind of empty & the guitarists were behind the speaker cabinets. (After later online investigation, i realised this is because officially there’s 3 members of the band & the others are touring guys) Chrissy seemed pretty impressed that the show had sold out as it was their first time at this venue. She also explained that ” Roo ” (guitar/keys) was from Nottingham, after which the crowd chanted ” One Of us ” 😉

A couple more songs & then Chrissy starts talking about a cover song they did. Of course, everyone twigged on quickly 😉 I must admit, “My Chemical Romance” are one of those bands i just cannot get into. “Hate” is a strong word, but i’m not that far off ! ( Same goes for ” Bullet For My Valentine” lol) But saying that, this song does work :

Next up, it’s possibly my fave ATC song ” Young & Relentless”. Just brilliant pop rock 🙂 Then to bring things down a bit, we get a couple of acoustic versions of songs ; ” Infinity ” & ” In Our Bones “. I’m pleased that they perform “Brighter” & “Wasteland” in the same order as on the album. They just work so well together.
This was a decent night out. I said my goodbyes to Jase & then wandered off to my hotel.
With Iron Maiden tickets going on sale at 9am the following morning, i decided i’d go queue early. Might as well seeing as i’m here. Didn’t sleep too well & got up early. Was at venue just around 7am…& was the only person there haha. Eventually a few others arrived,but, it was no where as busy as i thought it would be. Got us decent tix.

Garbage, The Pearl Harts , Rock City, Nottingham, 14-6-16

Wolf Alice, rock city, Nottingham 23-3-16

I was really looking forward to seeing WA at my fave venue, Rock City. I had high expectations. Traffic was really busy tonight so i didn’t park at the park n ride, trying to save a few extra minutes.I arrived about 5pm & there were about 15 kids in front of me. Pretty obvious where they’d be heading for.Whilst waiting, a camera crew set up across the road & filmed us all. Once inside,as expected, everyone dashed to the barrier & yours truly went to the balcony. First person up there so got my usual perfect spot. The kids loved “Bloody Knees”. They got a circle pit going 2nd song in. Once again, they did their job of warming up everyone.

When i saw “Swim Deep” in Leeds, i was quite impressed with their “quirkiness”, so was looking forward to rock city. They got a fantastic reaction, almost like a “heroes return”. There was one song, where a very large percentage of the audience seemed to be singing along. I think the great thing about this band is you just cannot pigeon hole them. They have so much stuff mixed in their sound.

WA hit the stage the same way as they seem to be doing everywhere on this tour : intro/Loves whore/ germ. It’s a full on great opening. The crowd just loves them & i’m pretty sure WA love the crowd 🙂

My concerns, erm no, my questions i had about the performance in Leeds (with relation to band/crowd interaction) were answered : Yes, they are more about just getting on with the show! However, if anything, i’d say there was more interaction at RC. “Bros” is a killer song as always. Hell, the whole night is great. Just a shame it’s all over so quickly. Something like 17 songs in just over an hour!

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Funny moment was during “Turn To Dust” when Ellie messed up. But she took it with a smile. Everyones only human. Oh, i never did find out what the filming of the gig was for. I saw 3 pro cameras in the gig, so it must be something worthwhile…but what ??