Jagged Edge - East Dene (May), Waterloo (June), Rock Cafe (Feb)

A bit of a mish-mash of unpublished comments;

We collared DB at Deighton to petition (again!) for Who's Crying Now. At East Dene (31 May 2009), we got some idea of what he meant when he said he didn't want to become just a Journey covers band.

Higher Place, Faithfully, Separate Ways, Anyway you Want It, Don't Stop Believing, Be Good To Yourself, Lights, Stone in Love.

That's quite a set by anyone's standards and with the usual Bon Jovi, GnR, Floyd and what have you, it made for a thoroughly enjoyable night.

Where that was fun, the next week's show at Waterloo had a real sense (for me at least) of occasion; a true alpha to omega event.

You'll recall my first encounter with Jagged Edge was when the then soon-to-be-Lady-DGNR8 dragged me along to a Sunday afternoon show at the bowling club; it seems appropriate that this chapter should close at the same venue.

Higher Place is cut short by the Waterloo's infernal volume limiter but DB leans on his electrical background to "overcome" that problem and the boys keep it hard, tight and loud through the show.

Well, until half-way through It's My Life when the kitchen circuits (for that, gentle reader, is where the juice is being pulled from) are overloaded by someone putting the kettle on.

I really want it to have been Polly.










Here's an exclusive picture of Ozzy's audition for DB's role. He didn't get the job after failing to outdrink Big Dave.

Time passes. Tick. Tick. Tick.

What’s that noise? I’ve got a new bit; it ticks with the regularity of Alan’s drums.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Things have changed.

Six months ago, Don’t Stop Believin' was my song. Journey was my band. Had been since 1983 when my schoolmate Jim Robertson came back from a visit to the States with copies of Escape and Frontiers.

Wow.

Sure, I shared them with a few of you, but it didn’t stop them being mine.

When last we spoke, all 99% of the British population knew about Journey was Don’t Stop Believin’. Half of them didn’t even know who it was by; it was just that awesome song from the end of The Sopranos. That’s probably where Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole heard it, anyway. They gave it to the little Geordie with the crooked teeth and the axe-murderer’s smile. He sang it on The X-Factor and it was obvious from that moment that he was going to win.

It’s not like Simon to miss an opportunity, but he took his eye off the ball; Joe’s attempt at the Christmas number one wasn’t the song we all expected; they gave him a Smiley Virus number instead. The rest is history; Rage Against the Machine got the Christmas number one.

Poor Joe.

Journey finally got UK chart success a quarter of a century after it was deserved and a cover – by the Kids from Fa... the Cast of Glee – meant that Don’t Stop... was a top ten hit twice, at the same time.

Suddenly, Don’t Stop Believin' is everybody’s song. Journey is everybody’s band. I don’t suppose Steve Perry or Neal Schon is complaining and I’m pleased to have been proved right (again), but I feel as if I’ve lost something.

Things have changed in Jaggie Land as well. Finally, ...Miss a Thing has gone, to be replaced by Home Sweet Home. Bowling For Soup asked it and no-one answered, so I’ll ask again; when did Motley Crue become classic rock?

Certainly not in 1986...

Some things never change, though; the Rock Cafe sound was woeful and the women there can’t hold their drink.

Wha' choo talkin' about, Lewis?

"Your reviews are scattered everywhere - some of them have already gone missing, it's about time you got them gathered in one place"

So says the wife. I think I agree with her.

Any Spare Keys - My Hospital Experience - July

I got bored reformatting this, so you'll just have to download the pdf!

http://www.mediafire.com/?snmgcnsbynd

Jagged Edge - Southey +2 - May 2009

Jagged Edge - Barnsley Trades - April 2009

Jagged Edge - Ashfield - March 2009

Bad start – I've left the memory card in the computer at home, so I'm limited to a handful of photos for the whole night. This is particularly annoying as the venue – Ashfield WMC – is packed full of people who seem to be in the mood. Ah well...

Our first surprise of the night is a NEW SONG! Bon Jovi's She Don't Know Me (one of their very best, it has to be said) is slotted into the number two position. Now, far be it from me to quibble, but Runaway is miles better than Wanted so I reckon the wrong track's been dropped. Just saying, is all...

The rest of the first set is fairly standard stuff, but the sound is absolutely top-notch so it's a particularly pleasing show.

Second half sees Stone Cold being tried out in a different environment. The empty dancefloor probably consigns it to the “could've been a contender” bin, I fear.

The set is very Journey-heavy with the Be Good To Yourself/Anyway You Want It pairing getting an airing alongside Don't Stop Believing and Separate Ways - the latter demonstrating that Big Dave is in better voice than ever.

The Bon Jovi singalong, Dann's solo and Big Dave's Zeppelin/DC numbers are followed by not one but three well deserved encores including Girl Can't Help It and Time.

The great sound (loud, but not ear-ringingly so) give us a chance to properly assess the new Floyd number – it's a winner – maybe even worth trying out in the Comfortably Numb slot in the right venues?

Good venue, great crowd, top performance.

Jagged Edge - Jesters - February 2009

I don't think I've mentioned it before, but I got a sat-nav for my birthday, so no more poring over maps and plotting routes in advance only to take a wrong turn 10 yards from the venue (see Colley WMC and countless other accounts).

Well, that's the theory; in the words of John Wetton, only time will tell, but what it definitely has done is introduced us to numerous roads which, I'm sure, are unused in decades. The TomTom seems to have some sort of algorithm built in which gives priority to single-track, unlit, twisting, turning cart tracks over such modern nonsense as, say, motorways. So it was that we emerged from a rarely visited and seemingly uncharted forest on the outskirts of Pontefract and found ourselves at the former Ackworth Moortop Club, (relatively) recently rebranded as Jester's Entertainment Bar.

The make-over artist is clearly of similar age to your reviewer because, once inside, you could be in any of the clubs where I used to bop to Frankie Goes to Hollywood or Aztec Camera (oh yes!) The eighties influence is inescapable and I was feeling quite at home.

Then Alan reported his conversation at the door:
“You'd better be good or we'll glass ya!”

It's an interesting approach to geeing up the turn, isn't it? From girls, too. Maybe they were on a trip from Hartlepool?*

It's a young crowd and the set is tailored suitably; I'd call it commercial, DB says it's cheesy. You know the drill by now – all the charty stuff and we don't get Dann's solo slot.

A couple of guests – a bloke on bass and another lass who gets to shake DB's tambourine (I should rephrase that, shouldn't I?) I don't know if a glassing was threatened if he'd refused, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Interesting gig, and no blood spilled, so I guess the patrons were satisfied.

*Utterly unfair, of course. The King Ozzy might look like 1970s Belfast, but we've never felt remotely threatened. Apart from by the bingo caller.