Engine Punk

Get it on! Ooaawwwah! (Photo : Hilary Beale) If you like T Rex, you'll love T Rextasy. I saw them at Tavistock Wharf last year and would have seen them there again earlier this year except that on that very night The Damned were playing I'm not a great fan of tribute bands per se but T Rextasy cut the mustard. Actually, I don't like mustard. Custard's much more palatable. Danielz is the jiving pixie reincarnated (Photo : Hilary Beale) You're not going to see Bolan again in this life so Danielz makes a very worthy substitute. He looks and sounds just like Bolan and musically the whole band cannot be faulted. But being good musically isn't enough. Do these guys rock?. Yes they do! All it takes is a few opening notes of each song and the crowd can't stay still. Most of us know all the words to the sings and T Rextasy respond favourably to requests. And T Rextasy sound like T Rex, too (Photo : Hilary Beale) I went with a big gang ...

I closely watch this man play but still can't fathom how he does it. (Photo :  Efestivals) I've seen Wilko Johnson and his band twice now and been blown away both times by perfectly crafted blues rock, belted out by three of the best musicians in the business. They look like they're melting as cotton shirts assume a shine like wet-look vinyl. It's a good look on these guys, though, as they draw on the energy from the crowd, energy they put out to begin with but get back with interest. Latin-scholar Wilko looks scary but isn't really. He's not machine gunning you with his guitar he's peppering your soul with licks you can't understand even when he's explaining them in slow mo on YouTube. How he plays his guitar is still a mystery when he strives to make it look simple. He's left handed but plays as if he's right handed, which goes some way to make sense, and loops his thumb over the top of the guitar to play rhythm. Beyond that, I'm ...