The Rockmen Arrive
Norfolk Arms, Marple Bridge (Saturday 26th April 2008)
So, after nearly two years of occasional rehearsals and a lot of talking, the band finally made it's live debut. Saturday night was arranged by Shaun about two months ago and we've all been waiting eagerly to get in there and get the rock out.
"What band?" I hear you ask. Well, the band is as follows:
- Brad Richardson - Vocals
- Rich (Frank) Goodchild - Guitar, Keys, Sequencing
- Andy "The Leg" O'Brien - Guitar
- Shaun "Saruman" Bradley - Bass, Backing Vocals
- Me - Drums, Backing Vocals
The rehearsals first started for this after an initial jam that was organised at a party in my back garden way back when. It had all started as a reason for the chaps to get together sans-girls and do what men do, which in this case is pretend it's 1989, rock out and then go out for drinks, curry, laughs and piss-taking local bands. This also included Craig, who couldn't do too much more since he's got music commitments all over the show and didn't want to have any more time given up to faffing about, which is fair enough. So, it went on from there and gave Shaun the chance to lead his own band (long story, let him tell you.) The songs had been chosen by all of us, even though some wre thrown in just to bolster the number of tunes in our songbook.
This band has lead to some good gear-spending in the band. New guitars, amps and drums ahve been purchased for this project and more stuff may come up soon. For example, I could do with my own vocal mic and Rich and I have even talked about in-ear monitors so I can hear what the hell is going on on-stage! We've been having fun with it, put it that way.
So after all this time and sessions in Shaun's school canteen and Moolah Rouge Rehearsal Rooms, we ended up at the Norfolk Arms in Marple Bridge ready top rock it up. We were due on at 9pm, but arrived at 6.30pm to set up, sound check and just get comfy. We were nervous, but OK since this would be our first gig and it's ages since I've played in public. I was anxious, as I'd not practiced that week due to being on holiday in the Lakes and, obviously without kit, but I'd warmed-up a little before packing up the car and heading to the venue. I was also knackered from running about all day and all the post-holiday stuff that you have to do.
Soundcheck was smooth and luckily, the sound seemed to be pretty good and we weren't totally cramped up on our "stage", which was obviously the floor. We finished up about 8pm, so we ended up sitting around twiddling our thumbs for an hour as friends and rent-a-crowd turned up. Archie turned up really damn early and propped up the bar. Then Rich's Derby contingent started to arrive. People drifted in as we hung about waiting for Shaun to give us the nod. FINALLY, 9pm came and we took to the stage and got ready for the off.
Brad did a little intro asking for forgiveness for what we thought may be an initial live practice to friends and understanding family and we were off. "Tie Your Mother Down" was played double-time with Shaun having to adjust his bass sound whilst playing due to him not being audible out front, resulting in some odd notes coming from his corner, but it all flowed well and sounded pretty good. From here on in we were away. "20C Boy" was fine, as was "Teenage Kicks". "Hanging on the Telephone" sounded really rough with some odd guitar noises going on. Not sure what was going on there, but I think we were glad when that one was over. Brad's lyrics got a bit muddled in "I Fought the Law", which made me not be able to do my big fun bit on the "...six gun..." bit and "Should I Stay..." was lust a little too ragged for my liking, due to the way we play the verse very slow and the choruses insanely fast. The Punky section of the set is one that I'd like to see worked out really, and we should hopefully replace some of those tunes soon.
"Bed of Roses" came up next, which went OK for us, but is one of the songs that we got some rough comments on, mainly that it sounded "too kareoke". Not sure why as it seemed to flow OK and there were no real howlers going on. Maybe we'll give that a few more run-throughs in rehearsal next time to see what's what. I do know that the piano sound was a bit harsh and the balance of guitars was questioned at one point though. The comedy did flow on this tune as we hammed it up behind Brad during his "I am the singer" bit, and especially on the "tooo-night..." bit where I think Brad actaully laughed at the fact that he knew that Shaun and I did our JBJ emoting behind him. Great stuff. "Fallen Angel" was to follow this number, but Brad asked before the set if he could leave this tune until later on as he'd only just learnt it. I think he needed to build some more confidence as the set wore on, so we put it aside to decide upon in the break.
"Summer of '69" went OK and then it was off into "Addicted to Love" in which I had my first disaster of the night. The O-Ring (the dampener on the snare) got caught up the the stick, so I had to play one-handed for a mo whilst trying to sort the problem, which was basically to get it off the stick and onto the floor. This was awkward as this was the first song with major harmony vocals from me, so I was in a bit of a panic for a while. Luckily, I makaged to keep it going and not screw it all up too badly. Still, it was a little rough on that song from then on. The obligatory "ring problems" comments were exchanged at the end of that number.
The good luck returned for "Rock Candy", the set one closer. Jokey glances were exchanged between Shaun and I, as he doesn't dig the Montrose number as he thinks it's boring. Still, that song went great, with Rich rocking out a tasty solo, right up until the point where I miscounted the end and finished before everyone else... SHHHHHHHHHIT. Anyway, I just made some noise until everyone caught up and then we ended the set. I was very concious of playing too loud and laying into this one, as this one always tends to go out of hand as Rich and I (at least) love this one, so we tend to get very loud, but we started softer and gave ourselves the room to bring it up, but not too "up". Brad's screams were tops through this one and I think it brought the set to a high close.
The first half went so quick, and it was good fun. We were very happy with it, mistakes and all. There were plenty of smiles between the band on stage and I had a whale of a time. Break comments were good, although there was drama when the singer went AWOL unannounced to pick someone up in his car. There was a little stress with the missus which will not be gone into right now as it's cleared up now. Needless to say, we were itching to get back on stage for what we think is the better set.
We got back ten / fifteen minutes late and started again with "Hush". This is a nerve-wracking one for me due to all the running about the kit I have to do and all the harmonies involved on the chorus. It went fine though and we went straight to "Hard to Handle" which, as I remember went fine. "Wanted..." was OK, although the timing was a little rough. I thought that "Bed of Roses" was better, but most other people disagreed.
It was then that Andy had another stroke of bad luck. Brad did his intro to "Up Around the Bend" (to Kath, which considering later events and the fact that we were running late due to her was a bit dodgy) then Andy fell over the intro. Being the pro he is, he picked it back up and we blasted through it like demons. Then came "Fallen Angel" with Brad's "forgive us if this is shit, but we only just learnt it" intro and I think that we played it OK. We did play it fast, I'll tell you that much. Andy managed to stay upright during "...Angel" which was good of him. "Standing Alone" came next and we did OK with it. I ducked out of the verse harmonies as I chickened out at the last second and just sung to myself away from the mic. Andy's guitar solo was great and he got a good cheer for it after his widdling.
It was around this point that some bint walked up to Andy and asked if we could "play some Bon Jovi or MeatLoaf", to which he had to reply that we'd done two Jovi numbers already. Two big Jovi numbers too. Unbelievable.
"Standing Alone" then lead to the rockfest final dash to the end of the set. First up was "Ain't Talkin' About Love", which started fast then just got faster. "Were you playing on pure adrenaline, Gray?" asked Brad. Probably yes, although the speed wasn't all my fault as we were just excited. The "...Been to the edge..." bit was very funny with some excellent mugging going on through the song and this was all very cool and funny, well for us anyway. I did manage to f**k up the big drum bit at the end, which killed my confidence a little, so that meant I had to just throw myself right into the next number to get back on top, which is what I did. "Wishing Well" was this next one and it went real good, I think. I loved singing the harmonies and, even though I nearly bottled the big drum parts, I think I played it fine and it did seem to go good.
Rich's big number "Crossroads" (he just lurves the Clapton) was next and I did enjoy playing that one. Sometimes I get a bit bored with it, but tonight it sounded OK with Rich's solo sounding damn good from where I was. I was enjoying jamming it up a bit, so I hope the audience got the tight-but-looseness of it. "Rockin' In The Free World" came after and did threaten to fall apart at one point for some reason, although I can't quite remember now.
Then it was, all of a sudden, the closing number and the one I always worry about, "Won't Get Fooled Again". I always cross myself at the start of this one as I do Moon's drums and Townshend's vocals on this one and it always threatens to fall apart, especially as no one in the band is quite sure of how our arrangement of the song goes. This means we all spend the whole song watching Shaun as he mouths the instructions to us during the number. Somehow, we always manage to get to the end in one piece. Rich's sequenced keys at the beginning sounded tops and we all came in together and blew the roof off for the last number. We really rocked it. Brad did two of his most amazing screams (he usually does one to save his voice) and Rich and I nearly creased with the sheer "ROKKKKK" of it all. The glance we caught from each other said it all: "OUCH, but F**K YES!" This number was a real crowd-pleaser, enough for them to make us play it again as a first encore. It was at this point, that I panicked, due to being knackered from the first run. We did it again though to a different arrangement, partially because I launched into the wrong bit at one point, but it worked in it's slightly lengthened state. I though Brad was going to bring up a lung on his fourth big Th'Oo scream of the night and it never fails to make me smile when he does it as the man's voice is just amazing. I love playing that number, it's such a blast.
...And that was going to be that right up until we got asked for another. But since we hadn't got anything else really gig-ready, we resorted to playing "Tie Your Mother Down" again. It was pretty good and brought the gig to a close. We were knackered, but elated that it went so well. I think we all agreed that it was a good first run, even if all of us had made some howlers during the gig. It was just great fun and the band really did pull together for it. I couldn't stop laughing with the fun of it. It was also great to FINALLY play to an audience in a band with Dickie. It was a good moment for us both to have finally done it. So we're all looking forward to the next chance.
By all accounts, this should be pretty soon and at the Norfolk as Shaun told us that the Landlord asked us back again, even if with the sheer rock (yeah, right) of our performance rattled a glass shelf off the wall behind the bar and into pieces onto the floor. There should also be some possibilities for gigs elsewhere, but the are very much talk at the moment.
We were packed-up and done a half hour later, which was good work too and even though there was some stress after the gig and it took me two hours to get home, it was a realy blast and I can't wait to get more gigs booked.
So there it is, the first live show from The Rockmen. Hopefully next time, we should be a whole lot tighter and possibly with an altered set list. I've put my suggestions in and so has Dicko, so we'll see with that. Get the punk stuff away and the ROKKKKK in. So, keep it peeled and we'll be back...
Set List
- Set One
- Tie Your Mother Down (Queen)
- 20th Century Boy (T-Rex)
- Teenage Kicks (Undertones)
- Hangin' On The Telephone (Blondie)
- I Fought The Law (The Clash)
- Should I Stay Or Should I Go (The Clash)
- Bed Of Roses (Bon Jovi)
- Summer Of '69 (Bryan Adams)
- Addicted To Love (Robert Palmer)
- Rock Candy (Montrose)
- Set Two
- Hush (Deep Purple)
- Hard To Handle (Black Crowes version)
- Wanted: Dead Or Alive (Bon Jovi)
- Up Around The Bend (Hanoi Rocks version)
- Fallen Angel (Posin')
- Standing Alone (Tyketto)
- Ain't Talkin' About Love (Van Halen)
- Wishing Well (Free)
- Crossroads (Cream version)
- Rockin' In The Free World (Neil Young)
- Won't Get Fooled Again (Th'Oo)
- Encores
- Won't Get Fooled Again (Th'Oo)
- Tie Your Mother Down (Queen)
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