A short run of t-shirts have been sorted out for Strung Out Nights appearance at this years Rebellion festival.
However instead of hanging onto them for that show they will also be available at gigs between now and then for the grand sum of £8.
Sizes are S/M/L/XL.
However if anyone is unable to attend shows then a message to the Strung Out Nights facebook page will get you sorted out.
A big thank you has to go out to Parallel Prints for the totally expected excellent job in supplying what is the first ever Strung Out Nights t-shirts.
And another thank you to the New Hellfire Club as a perk of being a registered act with them is a discount on orders from Parallel Prints.
Contact them both for more details.
In addition - and this applies to all artists and bands who are going down the DIY route - if you do purchase a t-shirt you are in fact investing in that artist or bands future.
It's a small point that is often glossed over, and it shouldn't be.
In this instance anything made from sales will go towards recording costs.
So with your t-shirt you are in part paying for a future release, and that support cannot be understated or underestimated.
If it wasn't for the music lovers their would be no artists.
With hearts a flutter Coop fans
from all over the world could only look on in envy as original members joined him
on stage in the US
for one night only and ran through a mini set of classics.
Why can’t it be us we howled in anguish,
but maybe Alice heard us as our wildest dreams are about to come true because it
isn’t a one off because later this year when the ringmaster of shock rock come
to the UK he is bringing bassist Dennis Dunaway, guitarist Michael Bruce and
drummer Neal Smith with him.
Woooohoooooo!
With some rock magazine headlines
claiming that it is an original band tour that isn’t in fact accurate.
Instead we will be getting a mini
set from the band, and if it reflects what Tennessee got then that will be I’m
Eighteen, Billion Dollar Babies, No More Mr. Nice Guy and Muscle of Love.
Are you salivating yet?
Does November feel too far away?
I’m salivating and my leg is
bouncing rapidly as impatience settles in.
What do we want? The COOP and his
original band!
When do we want them? NOW!
Alice Cooper 2017 U.K. Tour Dates
11/11 – Leeds – First Direct Arena
12/11 – Glasgow – The SSE Hydro
14/11 – Birmingham – Barclaycard Arena
15/11 – Manchester – Manchester Arena
16/11 – London – The SSE Arena, Wembley
As an aficionado of the Universal horror films of old I don’t
have any qualms in saying that the first two modern day instalments didn’t
impress.
They didn’t offend either, but there was admittedly little
to get excited about.
It was definitely frustrating that after each outing the
studio went back to the drawing board as they very obviously had little faith
in their vision of the relaunch and preferred to let the box office decide on
the direction they would take.
Personally I would have been happy to hang in there after
The Wolfman to see how Guillermo del Toro got on with a classic take on Frankenstein,
but it wasn’t to be, and then again after Dracula Untold I would have accepted
the change in direction and committed myself to seeing how they moved on from
that one, but again Universal were unhappy with the reception and it all started
to feel like it was always going to be one step forward and two steps back for
the franchise.
And now here we are with the studio hoping that the Tom
Cruise led version of The Mummy will be third time a charm.
And you know what?
It is.
Or to be more precise it is in my opinion because I loved
it.
From start to finish I was completely on board with it all.
In fact I loved it so much that I’m struggling to understand
what the problem is that other people have with this one.
Everyone is great in it, the pace is kept up throughout, the
effects are all impressive enough, and I’m not getting the comments about it
being fragmented at all.
Do you ever watch a movie and think you have seen a
different one from everyone else?
That’s me with The Mummy.
Okay it’s not reverential to the root material, but there’s
plenty of little scenes that do cast an eye, if not a wink, back to those
movies, and the glimpses of vampire skulls, what looked like a limb from the
Creature from the Black Lagoon, and a mention of Gods and Monsters that I hope
was a reference to the 1998 movie about James Whale, was for me a nice touch.
Those who have been less than impressed are of course entitled
to voice their take on it, but each to their own.
We will have to agree to disagree about this one.
A big stumbling block right now is that in the first week of
it opening it hasn’t managed to capture the attention of US audiences, and the
naysayers are already out with their pitchforks and flaming torches ready to
bring down the Dark Universe, but as it has done okay elsewhere with the studio
recouping what was invested in it I will be crossing my fingers and hoping that
the next instalment is now being green lighted because Angelina Jolie in The
Bride of Frankenstein’s sounds pretty cool to me.
Hopefully people will make their own minds up about this and
it doesn’t slip through the cracks as Van Helsing, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
and Hansel and Gretel; Witch Hunters did.
All pretty much considered cult classics now, but none of
them spawned any sequels as they so richly deserved to due to their box office
failings.
So I guess it is just down to saying don’t blink Universal,
just don’t you blink.
Have faith and let’s see what you can do.
[SPUNGE]. Bad Impression, Strung Out Nights. 14/06/17 - Ivory Blacks (Glasgow)
With Strung Out Nights looking to hone a set to perfection in preparation for appearing at this years Rebellion festival the opening slot for [SPUNGE] was the ideal opportunity to do exactly that.
Within the Glasgow punk scene it is becoming increasingly obvious that this is the act to watch out for as credible opening slot after opening slot opens up before him.
He is out there as a solitary figure.
One man, one guitar, giving hope in the face of concerns that the scene is stagnating and struggling to find new blood that can carry the music across to yet another generation.
Rooted in the sound of the Clash he filters his self penned material through the prism of the US punk acts from the Dead Kennedys to NOFX and it is so seamlessly done that you can't hear any sort of clunky gear changes in his delivery.
Politically astute, fearless in speaking out, and still maintaining an ability to entertain he is now at the cusp of stepping from one rung of the ladder to ascend to the next.
If you are unaware of who Strung Out Nights is and call yourself a punk then you need to ensure that you deal with that sooner rather than later.
Don't be the punk that misses the bus here.
Bad Impression who followed are racking up plenty of plus points too.
As the name would indicate they are a covers band, but in covering others they are looking to hit a spot between Tragedy; The heavy metal tribute to the Bee Gees, and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.
And when it works it works very well, but behind the laughs, audience participation and the sharing of confectionary the set at times does stumble about a bit.
Some of the songs that they redefine are perfect in their execution, while others swoop and dive between working and not.
Lady GaGas Pokerface is as a good an example as any.
In parts it is well thought out and draws a good reaction from the audience, but there are points when the guitars and shared vocals descend into chaos, and not the good kind.
It's not something that the band, or anyone else for that matter, should be concerned about at this point in their playing career.
Every day is a school day as they say and with each performance I fully expect that the rougher edges will be smoothed off leading to Bad Impression jumping from delivering a good night out to one that people elevate to being called an essential night out for a crowd looking for shits and giggles.
[SPUNGE] have so many years under their belts now that they can put on a sterling show on auto pilot.
It comes with being road tested to the max, but settling in on cruise control doesn't appear to be in their DNA.
Instead it's full on from start to finish and as the years do pass they are edging closer to defining what the UK's ska-pop punk sound is.
As their homegrown peers fall by the wayside they are out there at the front waving the flag and refusing to lay down and die in the face of changing trends and fashions.
Some could argue that it is foolhardy, but not me.
There's something heroic about what they are doing. The never say die attitude is laudable.
Going out there night after night to give everything you have to entertain people is something that can't be knocked.
And when considering it in the light of being entertaining then they aren't being delusional about this either because they obviously fundamentally understand that there is no point in stepping up on a stage unless you are going to send an audience home satisfied.
The best part of it all is that they look as if they are still having fun doing it too.
Mates together having a laugh and bringing you into the circle to have a laugh with them.
You can't bottle that, there's no formula, a band has it or they don't, and [SPUNGE} have it.
Bloody well long live [SPUNGE] and all the other carriers of torches.
GENERAL UPDATE: The forthcoming EDEN FESTIVAL review that will feature. Gogol Bordello, The Stumblers, Rory Mcleod, Mickey 9s, Jamie and Shoony, Chibmarks, Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5 plus more will appear on the New Hellfire Club website. Links will be provided when that goes live.
In Scotland when the chips are down we have a colloquial catch all word that we shout out when we need our friends and family to rally around.
The word is 'hawners'. Shortened from having to scream out 'will someone, anyone, step in here and lend a hand to help me out.
Lend a hand, lend a hawn, gie us hawners.
More often than not it was shouted out in the playground when a square go, a mano a mano fistfight, was interrupted by your opponents mate joining in with a punch or a kick to advance his own friends chances of victory.
Your shout was the signal for your own mate, or mates, to jump in and lend their hawns to the task at hand.
In later life it turns to a less violent meaning.
You open the door laden down with shopping and gulp out an exhausted 'hawners' as the signal for the kids to relieve you of the strain.
So now that you know what 'hawners is here's some people that literally do need the hawners, as many hawners make light work.
Last time [SPUNGE} played in Glasgow it was a night of catching up with friends old and new to the backdrop of a whole lot of infectious ska punk being played.
A pint or two was consumed and the band provided an aerobic workout for some of us who really should know better.
It's doubtful that this Wednesday things will be any different.
Whether anyone wants to relive their board short past or are just looking for something to do midweek as an alternative to drowning in a deluge of soap operas then there's no doubt at all that this is the band who will deliver the goods to you.
Support comes from the always excellent Strung Out Nights and Bad Impression.
You can click on Strung Out Nights and message for discounted tickets.
Sometimes the best nights out are those that are arranged last minute.
This will be one of those if you haven't already committed to it.
Today the gates to Eden open.
That's the festival in Dumfries and not any biblical horticultural reference.
So midges be damned. We're having some of it.
I've been taking vitamin B supplements, started on the anti histamines, stocked up on the skin so soft that the SAS swear by as protection against the utterly contemptible little bastards, and in general every single old wives tale that claims to keep midges at bay has been read and committed to memory and I am ready for them this year.
All of this is down to the fact that they bloody love me.
As soon as I step out of a tent I am sure they fire up a flair that is the signal for them all to come running to snack on me.
I am the walking smorgasbord of tasty delights to midges. I must taste like caviar and champagne to them.
I can't exaggerate how much they are attracted to me. When all the lumps and tiny bumps appear from their sawing at my flesh* you could get a blind person to run their hands over my face and they would step back and say that it spells out TASTY in braille. My legs would be lots and lots of little tripadvisor comments.
All positive. Glowing references to how rich my blood is.
Utter utter utter bastards.
But is Eden worth all the hassle?
Well previous years it has been, and with everything from Gogol Bordello to Boney M playing it is shaping up to be another good one this time too.
So it's just some last minute packing to do, and then it is waiting on the house sitter to come along and I am heading out there to once more sacrifice myself to the midges in return for a weekend of fun.
*They don't bite or sting. They literally saw a small hole in you. Now how fuckin' fucked up is that? Utter bastards.
Finally DC has tentatively begun moving towards adding some cohesion to the Justice League franchise with the appearance of Wonder Woman.
It's been a long time coming, and the patience of the fans has been sorely tested with first a lacklustre Man of Steel which was then followed with a disjointed Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, before they then pushed their luck to the limit with the slapdash Suicide Squad making an appearance.
For the last it could be argued that they went all out to deliver a merchandise advert masquerading as a movie and partially succeeded.
Barnum and suckers come to mind whenever Suicide Squad is mentioned.
C’mon! I can’t be the only one that wasn’t feeling these movies?
Each, individually, could be described as films which illustrate that box office receipts have little to do with quality.
Howlers one and all with barely a redeeming feature between them.
And it is to this backdrop that Wonder Woman steps forth from, and dare we say it the very poor lead up has created a situation where a fair film would be called good and a good film great.
The film is a superhuman leap forward from its predecessors; there is no argument here about that, but even with the vast improvements it still comes in as a good film rather than anything more.
Even a very good film if you want to push the point.
As romps go few will be disappointed as it ticks all the action hero boxes, and it has rightly been applauded for attempting to redress the gender balance in superhero movies.
That’s something that has been long overdue and fingers will be crossed that Wonder Woman is the catalyst for more to come.
And yet even with all the praise being heaped on this release there is a bit of a cold light of day reconsideration that whispers that the praise is being just a bit hyperbolic.
The pacing is well considered, the cast put in solid performances, and the plot is sound, but it does seem to lack that certain something that pushes a movie from being great to being that bit more than great.
As a movie that is at its heart band anti war outing it really didn’t push home the horror and futility of the mass loss of life in the fist world war.
Obviously the aim is to entertain a very wide market that includes young impressionable fans, but maybe the bloodless action could have done with something a bit more gut wrenching to sell the premise.
Who knows? It’s possible that in the morning after the night before what seemed initially very satisfying just isn’t standing up to any harder scrutiny.
Back to the positives though: With Wonder Woman DC have certainly made a come back after years of playing second fiddle to Marvel, but the fight aint over yet and the jury will still be out for Justice League.
The Blind Shake -
Rocket Reducer. Broadcast - Glasgow 02/06/17
Last minute decisions to attend gigs can provide an
uncertain outcome, but catching both The Blind Shake and Rocket Reducer
delivered far more than expected.
Rocket Reducer most certainly have a few John Reis releases
between them and their set reflects their influences.
More Rocket from the Crypt than Drive Like Jehu, and if that
wets your appetite then look no further for your kicks.
A quality set from a good band and well worth keeping an eye
out for the next time they play.
Headliners The Blind Shake offer a whole different
experience though.
In part they sound like the house band of a cantina in the
Cursed Earth.
You could imagine Judge Dredd working his way through some rowdy
mutants to lean against the mesh separating the band from the audience to say ‘Drokk
it you guys can play’.
It’s difficult to know where to start when trying to describe
them.
Devo meet the Velvet Underground and jam out something that sounds
like The Wypers covering Sigue Sigue Sputnik.
And while that might do for me I am sure that everyone else in
attendance could offer up something completely different, and that’s fine.
With the band losing a drummer on their travels it was down to
then to carry on as a duo, and for me that works, but it would be unfair to say
it was better as without any knowledge of them performing as a three piece I couldn’t
commit to that, but I can commit to saying that there is still plenty of energy
coming from them as a duo.
Far more than would probably be expected by most.
Two people shouldn’t be able to make the noise they do, but that’s
a moot point as they did, and did in some style.
Yeah, as a last minute adventure looking for gig kicks
this show covered it. Website Facebook
