Today is my birthday and as a present to myself in July 1980 I made my way to the Stafford Bingley Hall to attend the… ahem…” Over the Top Heavy Metal Brain Damage Party” featuring seven of the NWOBHM’s finest (that’s New Wave of British Heavy Metal if you didn’t know) amongst which there was Girlschool, Saxon and the headliners Motorhead. This was 6 hours of very, very loud music, and being a sixteen-year-old I took the very wise decision that the best place to ‘enjoy’ proceedings would be as near to the bass bin, close to the stage, as I could. I can still feel the physical pain as Lemmy thrashed his Rickenbacker through the ‘hits’.
Last night I attended a heaving Camden Electric Ballroom to see flavour of the month ( and possibly year) M J Lenderman finish his brief UK tour. So this is 45 years later and where do we stand? Close to the front in front of the PA stacks!! Four numbers in and I could take no more of the distortion and I fled to the back of the room where the view was not so good but I could actually hear all the instruments and make out the vocals. What’s interesting is that I knew from note one that I was going to have to retreat for the sake of my hearing but I didn’t make the move for at least half an hour. Why not? Pride? Loyalty to my friends who were plainly having a good time? It was obvious it wasn’t going to get any quieter. Hanging onto my youth? Probably – I am an idiot.
Speaking of which I have just dipped my toe into promoting another gig and will be presenting Whitney K (I’ve gone international!!) in Bedford on Sept. 17th – more of which at a later date. So this week’s sounds are Whitney K with his new single and the redoubtable Sheepdogs who were superb at Red Rooster. I’m away on my hols for three weeks so this is the last radio show for a while and it was a corker featuring some Florry, Cory Hanson, and some of the acts I saw at the brilliant RR weekend Ella Spencer, Dan Raza, Danny and the Champs and those Sheepdogs.
