Rock Radio Manchester Launch Party
Monday 5th May 2008
So, Manchester's first Classic Rock radio station was being launched on that day (Bank Holiday Monday 5th May) and we thought we'd take the boy down there to experience his first rock gig and go and see what's what. There had been loads of pissing about with babysitters, so we thought we'd just take him with us. The main reason I was hot to go was the presence of GUN that day doinda gig with new lead singer Toby Jepson, which was an odd proposition, but what the hell, I'd give it a go. I also wanted to get to HMV and pick up the new Leps album which was out that day and I've not missed a Lep release day since 1992!
We grabbed B from her house (Roy sat this one out) and made our way into Manchester to the Cathedral City Gardens outside Urbis to see what was what. We went to the gardens and saw the venue and got to a spot just as Letz Zep took the stage. We missed Mercury, a Queen tribute band, but got there to see the Zep tribute. They opened with "Rock and Roll" and took the "Song Remains The Same" route through a live set including "Moby Dick" and a slightly ragged "Whole Lotta Love" which started to unravel slightly towards the end where no one could seem to decide where they were going to come back to the song after the trippy mid-section. Still, they looked the part, especially the JPJ man whoi even had the white suit. The PA did give up at one point, but they managed to get it back pretty quick... Then again, this may have happened during the next band's set (more about that in a mo).
Sammo seemed to be enjoying himself for the most part at this stage. He had his kid ear-defenders on so he doesn't have to look back when he's 25 with a dirty great permanent whistle in his ears and blame me for destroying his ears by taking him to gigs by crusty old blokes pretending to be Led Zeppelin. The weather was pretty good, although it was always threatening to piss it down in between sunny spells. It was very warm and close though, which tested the patience a bit.
The set up outside Urbis was pretty good. The stage was down in the corner by the Triangle, or The Corn Exchange, as it used to be back in the day when you could buy dodgy bootlegs and jacket patches, before it was blown up in the mid-90s. The view was OK from most places too, which was OK. There were lots of familiar faces wandering round the crowd, including the couple who live across the street from us. It was a funny old day like that for seeing old faces.
After Zep, I made my dash to HMV to get my Leps CD and rushed back. Good album, nice packaging, more about that in Ear Candy at some point. I shouldn't have bothered to rush too much though, as the next band up were the Mike Sweeney fronted Salford Jets. There was nothing really wrong with them apart from the annoying front man who made every effort to prove he was a local lad by replacing all his "ers" in his his speech with "ohs". so f**king annoying. The music was OK, but a bit bloody repetative. I ducked out halfway through with the boy so we could go and play in the fountains for a while. People seemed to enjoy the band though, although there were plenty of people willing the band to get off the stage after a while. But since Sweeney is one of the DJs who has a show on the station, he was always going to have his slot. I've always found him aggravating, so I'm probably not the best person to judge.
It must be said that the organisation on stage was tops, the break between bands was only about ten minutes a-piece, so things rattled on pretty quick. At this point, we took a quick walk to the station to get some supplies before I went down the front to see GUN do their thing.
So, there we were. Eleven years after the last (dodgy) album and fourteen years or so since I saw them last, there they were playing their second gig as a reformed unit with Little Angles (I know, I know) man Toby Jepson on the mic. I didn't really know what to expect as I always thought that Rankin's voice was central to the sound of the band, with his deeper and richer voice, but Jepson did a good job of fitting in and wrapping his tonsils around the songs. He also proved well up for frontman duties, but then again, he never was the shrinking violet on stage. The sound was OK, although there was some feedback howling throughout the opening number ("Better Days") that they couldn't find and was causing some distress to the band. Still, there were plenty of smiles as the song rattled on and the problem seemed to have been resolved by the time we got to the next number ("Money").
The set was about 40 minutes long and had a good, but predictable make-up. I'm REALLY glad that they managed to get "Don't Say It's Over" in there, as that was always one of my favourites and a great pumping live tune. I look at my list of songs (see below) and it looks a bit short. but there was a litle bit of crowd-participation going on and Jepson did speak quite a bit at times to the crowd. "Taking On The World" was pretty good (nearly twenty years old now!) as was "Steal Your Fire", which took me back to '92 and the Leppard support gig that they blasted through. It was just really good to see and hear them. It didn't take long for the band to bring the crowd alive and lift the proceedings. There was even a pit that formed at one point, but more about this in a minute. They weren't looking to fat or old either, which was good!
During that last couple of tunes, there was a spot of bother down the front. Some poor lass got smacked in the face and left the front crying on the shoulder of some Red Cross bloke followed by her pals. Rule number one, if it kicks off down the front and you don't want to get jostled, then get out. She didn't and suffered. Jeppers made some old woman speech about "that's what happens when you start that stuff down there" which didn't go down too well with da kidz down the front, but there you go. He's a public-spirited chap, is Toby. The crowd was good-spirited, but a little hyped-up by that stage of the day.
"Word Up" and "Shame On You" brought the set to a close and that was that. So, what the future is for the band is anyone's guess. There is an appearance at Tea in the Park in summer and word of possible new material and some sort of tour for the twentieth anniversary of the debut album, but god knows. It's just a shame that Rankin has moved on, but there you go. At least this gig proved that they could still do it as a band.
I wandered back to our party and saw that everyone else had finally turned up. Shaun and Bern were there, as were David and Claire. Brad and his lot (Damo etc) were about, but spent most of the time in the pub after all that and not a lot of time in the gig. Then again, the beer prices were extortionate and the queues massive, so fair enough. At this point, it looked like it was going to start tipping it down too, as the clouds had built up and there were a few drips of rain here and there, but nothing too wet, if you know what I mean. It was good to finally see people. If we hadn't have brought the boy with us and not driven in (I didn't mind as I was only really there for GUN), then we'd have spent more time with the others and probably would have been very drunk and utterly bankrupted.
At this point, after a little shmoozing, it was time for BadCo, or "Band Company in 2008" as the legal situation dictactes they should now be as it seems that there has been stress with Paul Rogers over the use of the name. They had some other dude singing and guest drummer Harry (on loan from Thunder) as well as quite a few other supporting players. A very different from the BadCo I saw in 2002 with Rogers on vocals at the Apollo. Unfortunately, the sound was shite. They had their own set-up with a separate kit and backline, which was their downfall as it just sounded terrible in comparison to the bands before them. All you could hear halfway back was bass. It was awful. They were playing all the best bits of the first couple of albums when we decided that we should go. Loads of people were leaving by this point, which was a real shame as the band, as far as I could tell, were playing really well. Anyway, we were hungry and Sammo was finally getting restless and tired, so it was time for us to make a move. So, to Wagamamma we went...
It was a funny old day really. It kind of felt like an event, but not much of a big one. I think that this was because the group of friends were so fragmented during the day probably. It was good to get out though and Sammo enjoyed the rock for the most part. He was dancing about and enjoying himself, although it would have been much better is Logan had been able to stay longer at the event so they could have played and buddied-up for the day. But, since I was there for Gun and Leps, my missions were accomplished and I sat over my Ramen knackered from the heat of the city and the elation from seeing the band. I showed the signs of my age when I got in the car and declared that "I need a cup of tea"...
GUN's Set List
Unsure of the order, but it was something like this and I think that I missed a few.
- Better Days
- Money (Everybody Loves Her)
- Taking On The World
- Don't Say It's Over
- Steal Your Fire
- Word Up
- Shame On You
A Bit Of The Day
The video is in FLV format and should stream quite quickly to your computer. Excuse the distorted sound, the microphone on the camera isn't the best when recording high-volume noise. Please be patient if the video doesn't load immediately.
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© 2006 Graham T. Ebbrell