Now THATS what I call a Halloween gig! It all started with another leisurely drive up the New Jersey Turnpike from Philadelphia, a quick drop of the bags at a typically overpriced Midtown hotel and then a subway ride to the ChipShop in Brooklyn where the British expat owner had invited us for a slap up meal on the house. Both myself AND Stu plumped for the mushroom shepherds pie, washed down with a mug of PG Tips - we couldve been back in the Old Kent Road. Luvverly! The Atlantic Chipshop is a joy... full of Top Brit nosh and a decent bar, run by foodie proprietor Chris - I recommend this place highly!! Then back to Manhattan and the Irvine Plaza, a lovely old ex theatre where we had a crack at DVs Perfect Sunday for fun at soundcheck, despite it not being in the current setlist. Its a great song full of memories from our esteemed singers childhood... (makes mental note - must play a few more recent numbers in future). My next job was to walk the 10 blocks or so down to the Bowery Electric where Id left my veggie docs (vegetarian-shoes.co.uk) after the Sensible show a few days ago. It was strange to see the place empty and devoid of the zombies, burlesque dancers and weirdos that had been cavorting about at my gig with Mr Armisen and the house band. Thatd been fun! The New York guestlist was always going to be a pain in the arse and we couldve filled it several times over but I did manage to accommodate the following on my meagre allocation: Normal Bob Smith (jesusdressup) Natasha Leonne (sci-fi actress) Mike Thorne (producer, Soft Cell, etc) Glen Matlock (bassist, some punk band..) Jesse Malin (muso extraudinaire) Fred Armisen (sat night live / Portlandia / 8G band / Dead Man Walking) The Halloween garbed crowd were totally up for it and the gig itself was fantastic, veering towards the dark side as befits the occasion... at start of set Pinch teased the audience standing in a spotlight during the Dr Jeckell intro wearing a black cape and V For Vendetta mask, behind which everyone thought of course was Mr Vanian. They learned better when the shadowy figure relocated behind the drum kit and our regular singer appeared for the songs first line - right on cue. Before the encore I had a hell of a problem forcing my frantic bulk into the lobster suit provided by performance artiste Auntie Biotic, which wasnt surprising really considering it had been made for HER. Ouch! Backstage afterwards while Normal Bob was distributing gifts to bands and crew of his Halloween Jesus Dress Up fridge magnet sets a lady dressed all in black handed Mr Vanian a box containing some soil purloined from Bela Lugosis grave. I thought.. if everyone starts doing that theyll reach the coffin at some point. And thatd fetch a fair whack on EBay dontcha think!? Things in the dressing room were swinging with people rolling around the floor and all sorts but that was cut short by the pressing need for both Mr Vanian AND myself rushing off to DJ at nearby venues - at rival after-show parties. Apparently DV started his set with the Miss Marple theme, followed up with soundtrack themes and his good self leading the ballroom dancing. As you can imagine mine was a VERY different affair - nothing suave and sophisticated at the Beauty Bar while Fatboy Sensible was at the decks - there was so many beer glasses on the DJ console I was convinced some drunken maniac (maybe myself!?) would knock one over and that would be the end of that. But I had so much fun playing the likes of Alvin Stardust, Slade, the Skids, Small Faces, Ruts, etc it was 5am by the time I got back to the hotel. Oh, the life of a superstar DJ.... You can imagine the scene at reception the next morning as a bunch of zombified OAPs (old age punks) dragged themselves into the bus to travel to Asbury Park for the last gig..... which turned out to be a cracker. People remarked how good we sounded that night - which might have been because local lad made good Bruce Springsteen (really!) was mixing us that night. Id spotted him there and was a bit cheeky on mic - but Im sure he expected nothing less of me. MR Loose Cannon to you! So to sum up... a great few days on the road with T.S.O.L. and the Briefs - a couple of wonderful bands and now good mates. Cheers me dears!
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 22:58:46 +0000
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