No Sugarcoating & No Bullshit: August
Written by Jo Hayes
Saturday, 29 August 2015 04:00
Hello again Uber Rockers. I can’t believe that it’s time again for my blog of music related nonsense. Before you know it, we’ll be talking about…no, I shouldn’t mention the ‘C’ word…
This month, I’m writing about the gig bucket list, more on the achievable bucket list, but I might mention some totally unachievable bucket list dreams!
I’ve mentioned in my past two blogs of bands who I had or was due to tick off my bucket list. Well, it seems this past year, is the year of ticking some off the list.
Last September, I saw the Foo Fighters billed as ‘The Holy Shits’. Ever since they first played the Concorde 2 around 8 years ago, I always dreamed of seeing them in a small venue, but never imagined that would become a reality. Then, as a complete fluke, it happened.
This year I’ve seen The Replacements – which is something that I also never dreamed of happening – in fact, I feared it might be a repeat of when I saw The Pixies reform: dull, lifeless and obviously just playing for the money. The Replacements were of course the polar opposite, and were just fucking amazing.
Next I saw The Sonics which, funnily enough, I also never imagined happening. I also imagined that being in their seventies (I assume), that they wouldn’t have the energy to do ‘Psycho’ justice, again I was wrong. If I had closed my eyes, I could have easily imagined that I had been transported back in time, as they did their songs justice and then some.
It just goes to show that a bunch of OAPs can rock out as much as a group of twenty somethings. I took my Dad to their Manchester show for a belated father’s day present, and I’m pretty sure that this one of the best gigs he has been to (which says a lot).
Next month, I’m seeing Walter Lure in London, and potentially Manchester. Being a huge Heartbreakers and Waldos fan, this will be the next best thing to me. As much as I would love to see Johnny Thunders AND The Heartbreakers, I dread to think what he would sound like, if he were still alive.
After feeling stuck in a rut gig-wise over the past few years, the past twelve months has definitely made up for it. After Walter Lure, I currently don’t have any plans to see any other bands play.
One band which is possible, but I wouldn’t want to ruin my image of them, is Backyard Babies. They have played in Brighton a couple of times, but typically when I was out of the country. I wonder if I’d be disappointed, as ‘Total 13’ is such a great album, and the others don’t quite match (in my opinion), so the only way I’d want to see them is if they played ‘Total 13’ in its entirety. Not gonna happen.
My imaginary bucket list of course includes the Ramones and The Clash, and basically any good seventies Punk Rock band, for which I’d need a time-machine for. Daydreaming is as much as many of us can hope for!
Who next? Well, I’ve ticked off other bands in previous years – AC/DC and D Generation for instance, one band I would love to see is Manic Street Preachers, but playing ‘Generation Terrorists’ in its entirety – again, this is probably only a daydream now.
Anyway, next time I’m sure I’ll be either raving or complaining about the Walter Lure gig, and I hope it’s the former rather than the latter!
Until next time…
Jo