Engine Punk

Two great gigs in a week this week - after The Specials on Bonfire night, Ash played at The Hippo the following Sunday. (Photo from Ash website) Ash originally came out of nowhere into a chart devoid of much guitar and drum and Tim Wheeler's paper thin vocals and garagey guitars was such a welcome change from the soulless over produced rubbish they couldn't be anything else except a success. Mind you, so many other worthy performers never get the recognition they deserve but I'm glad to say that it happened for Ash. And they've stayed the course since and seem to be bigger and better than ever (although there are now only three of them). The time is ripe for Ash to blow us a way again. And they did. For this gig I was re-united, not only with The Usual Suspects (see earlier posts on my punk rock friends) but also with Chas'n'Shaz who I last saw in a night club in Truro about ten years ago. They are great fans of Ash and were also at The Specials gig...

I saw Sham 69 again last night and they were better than ever! The atmosphere at The Hippo was excellent and I think the Shamsters responded to a crowd who were eager for a good time. And leading the revellers were my friends Steve and Carolyn. Carolyn's usually the punk rocker of the two but Steve had been on the Stella and having lost his inhibitions set about loosing everyone else's. He dragged me and Carolyn down to the stage for the support band Russel Can't Drive . Although these guys messed about a lot, they were actually very tight and I enjoyed their set. They did a cover version of a song that's really bothering my mate Gary. He recognised it but not enough to really place it. He's now on a mission to identify it and can't rest properly until he can. Russel Can't Drive may not be able to drive but they rock and are on tour soon. Catch them if you can. Sham 69 have been playing for years and their experience shows. They know how to wor...

I saw The Wedding Present play at The Hippo in Plymouth on June 20th and thought they were brilliant. When I was a student in Coventry they were spoken of frequently but, as far as I can tell, I never heard any of their songs. Friends of mine knew about them but never imparted their knowledge to me. So when some of my mates mentioned they were going to see them in Plymouth I quickly checked them out on the internet. Hearing them for the first time, they sounded like a cross between The Smiths and Joy Division. I also discovered that they'd had 18 Top Forty singles in the UK without hardly anyone noticing. There was quite a gang of us at The Hippo in the end. Unlike when I was a student, word had spread in an understated kind of way. Those who knew of The Wedding Present playing that night had perhaps mentioned it to only a few of us and, when they had, they'd typically omitted to say that they were going along. Only The Usual Suspects (Garry and Rich) had been suffici...

I've just about got my voice back after a week. I'm still typing this in, though - my voice recognition software is a but "mazed" as we say round here. Stiff Little Fingers delivered the goods again at The Hippo last Friday (March 27th) and although I was succumbing to the snots I was determined to see them - that's SLF, not The Snots. It probably wasn't a very wise thing to do but when did common sense come into rock'n'roll. I wouldn't have missed it. Our party numbered about thirty in the end and we all met up beforehand in The Union Rooms on Union Street in Plymouth. As we approached The Hippo we could see groups of people being turned away. Many of them asked us if we had tickets. Fortunately, we did although my mate Martin, who came down from Exeter, must have got one of the last ones. He picked it up on the door and drew many envious glances. The Hippo has recently been refurbished but, to those who new it, it looked just the same. I...

I'm really looking forward to seeing this brilliant band again on Friday 27th March, this time in Plymouth at The Hippo, which was The Hub. Plymouth gets by-passed by too many bands so I'm hoping The Hippo (short for hippodrome?) will be a regular draw to those of us who like both kinds of music - punk and rock. It's a new venue for me but some of my mates say it's pretty good. What we're hoping for is a great gig from SLF, so good they'll include Plymouth on all forthcoming tours. I saw them in Falmouth last summer and I've been up to Bristol to see them many times in the past so want them to remember this gig and come back. (Photo from Kev-inr's Flickr photos ) To that end, about 30 people have been enticed into going. Some of us have seen Fingers before but most of our party are coming along because they've heard so much about SLF from the rest of us. I hope there's a good turn out but it'll be a new experience knowing so many people ...