More years ago than I care to remember, we had a burst pipe in the playground at primary school which, of course, was a magnet for us little'uns. I recall the dressing-down I got from the janitor while, soaked to the skin, I sat shivering next to the heater in his office. "I warned you. You'll catch your death..." I haven't felt that small in a long time.
"No-one cares about drummers. No-one loves us. We don't matter."
Alan was a couple of steps away from going down to the garden to eat worms after last night's show at The Tramshed. Thing is, like the jannie all those years ago, he was dead right; apart from a couple of oblique references, he and DS have been conspicuous by their absence from these musings. Due credit has not been paid.
Bad Tommy.
Hey, these reviews are written, primarily, to keep track of the good times I have. They're my diary; something to spark a happy memory in years to come. I'm no professional; I have no journalistic background or training; any "style" in my writing has been absorbed from years of reading Mick Wall, Dante Bonutto and Derek Oliver. I need the occasional bollocking to keep me focussed or I'll end up sounding like Gary bloody Bushell.
What, exactly, was Alan's gripe all about and why was it justified? Well, you'll have heard the TV and radio pundits talking about football referees and how they're considered to be at their best when you don't notice them. To those of us who don't actually know as much about music as we'd like to think, the same applies to drummers, bassists and keyboard players. Yes, they're there and we vaguely recognise them, but we only actually notice them when they balls it up.
Think about it; the famous members of every rock band are the guitarist(s) and singer(s). Bassists are anonymous (unless it's "their" band - Pete Way, Steve Harris - or they sing - Phil Lynott, Lemmy, our very own Dave R); drummers are interchangeable (unless they're "technicians" - Neil Peart, Ian Paice, erm...); keyboard players tend to be so shy they make bassists look like glory-hunting limelight hogs (unless they're Keith Emerson).
Not convinced? Here's a quick test. The following are/were the drummers, keyboard players or bassists in three bands the boys cover - who plays what and with whom?
Jonathan Cane, Alec John Such, Joey Kramer, Steve Smith, David Bryan, Tom Hamilton - you have 10 seconds, starting now...
Whaddaya mean you've never heard of them?
Long story short - this review is dedicated to the "referees" of the show; the guys we don't notice unless they have a bad game. Alan, Dave S and the guys on the desk, take a bow because your time is now.
Depending on who you ask, The Old Tramshed is either in Shipley, Saltaire or Bradford. It's a venue I'd heard a fair bit about so I was glad to finally take in a show. As you'd expect (the name's a bit of a giveaway) it's a big, airy building but it's been very nicely converted and the balcony offers a great view of the (perhaps rather small) stage.
Right from the opening bars of Higher Place, this was a great show. The sound was fabulous with the harmony balance approaching perfection and the vocals at just the right level in the overall mix. The big 80s drum sound in Faithfully was great and Jump featured DS's keys as they should sound. This was the kind of show that makes us keep coming back for more and it completely washed away any lingering bad taste from the Hogmanay mishaps. There you go, DB, The Oracle has spoken!
The songs slipped by, one by one; Blue Collar Man, Comfortably Numb, Separate Ways and Wayward Son all benefitting hugely from the well-balanced harmonies. Throw in the aforementioned Faithfully and Adagio and that's your highlights. Yes, the usual Bon Jovi, Guns'n'Roses and what have you too, but you knew that.
By the end of the night, voices, unexercised for nearly a month, were starting to tire but, after a performance like this, that's half expected. By way of a breather, we had a guest appearance from two guys - a vocalist and a drummer who must go uncredited as DB, in his inimitable way, completely failed to introduce them.
Bad DB.
Big Dave's usual pair to close out - a great start to the year.
Oh, afterthought - soundcheck was Is This Love, a song I've never mentioned in review so it must be a while since it was played in anger. Dust that and Hold the Line off and I'll be a happy camper...
Quiz answer :
Jonathan Cane - keys, Journey
Alec John Such - bass, Bon Jovi
Joey Kramer - drums, Aerosmith
Steve Smith - drums, Journey
David Bryan - keys, Bon Jovi
Tom Hamilton - bass, Aerosmith
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