``Sometimes you feel that life just can’t get any better. Standing at the front of the stage awaiting Taime Downe’s new musical outfit, The Newlydeads, play in the club that the ex-Faster Pussycat mainman hosts every week was one of those special moments for me.
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` It was obvious that something good was gonna happen tonight just by the peeps who had crawled out of the woodwork to watch. Veteran Poison fret widdler CC Deville, Bang Tango frontman Joe Leste, Warrior Soul/Space Age Playboys' mainman Kory Clarke and ex-Playboy Riley Baxter were all amongst the cremé de la cremé of the Hollywood music scene included in the audience. MTV cameramen could also be found unpleasantly jostling their way to the front of the crowd – apparently their project was a “Where are they now special” about Taime Downe. The answer to that question was about to become crystal clear.` `

Right: The coolest corpse on the block,
Taime Downe - Photo by Karen

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It's the new guy! "Any Fanny" Danny Nordahl
pops his Newlydeads cherry! Photo by Karen

`Despite various lineup changes, the Newlydeads remain a tight, superior live outfit who are also exciting to watch. Loosing his Newlydeads’ virginity tonight, new bassist and Dragonfly doorman, "Any Fanny” Danny [Nordahl] (ex-Throbs/NY Loose) seemed to be having the time of his life and fitted in perfectly. Drummer Dish grinned like a maniac from behind his kit, guitarist Toddity fell to his knees in the obligatory rock-star fashion whilst second guitarist “X-Man” Xristian is an eyecatching sight with his painted face. Introducing crowd favourite ‘Submission’ by chanting “SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT!” like a man possessed, frontman Taime, with his cigarette constantly in hand, is a perverted vision of gorgeousness. Decked out in black leather strides, black shirt and a killer pair of platforms that personally I'd die for, he proves time and time again that he still has that IT factor …. a great stage presence and as always, wears the crown as King of Sleaze in my book. Okay, so the Newlydeads ain't sleaze but Taime is more slinky than any goth I've ever seen! His immistakable voice is perfectly suited to this darker, industrial-tinged material. “I’ll give you a rattle to wake your dead ass baby!” he howls during 'Poor Little Baby' with his deliciously dirty wails providing the perfect finishing touch to the irresistible 'Sleeping Pill’, ‘Seven’ and ‘Six Feet Deep’. On hearing the high quality of these new offerings, if the rest of the band’s forthcoming ’Black N’ Shiny’ [later renamed 'Dead End'] release is up to this standard, it will definitely be a CD worthy of seeking out.

Night of the Living Dead - Taime Downe
Photo by Karen

``The Pretty Ugly Club is the perfect surrounding for The Newlydeads. Red sequinned glitter crunches underfoot whilst scarlet helium filled balloons hang from the low ceiling. Add to this an army of followers suited and booted in PVC and platforms to create an atmosphere charged with excitement long before a note is even played. `

``Anticipation hung in the air during a lengthy intro tape during which all that could be seen was a tiny stage bathed in dry ice and smoke. Suddenly exploding to life, Taime and the gang slink out of the shadows and without wasting any time, launch straight into the crunching ‘In Denial’. The crowd, of course, need no encouragement to sing and bounce along. The Newlydeads are in excellent form throughout their hour long set, airing a couple of impressive new tracks before once again turning up the heat. Assaulting the crowd with the punishing throb of ‘Skin Tight Skin’ and the compulsive groove of ’Free Weapons’, “Dance mutherfu*kers!!” Taime screams and of course, the crowd responds with the mother of a stomp-pit!

Every inch the rockstar - guitarist Toddity Photo by Karen

Looking good and sounding great, The Newlydeads is a band capable of satisfying both the goth and glam scenes alike and is perfect for those craving a bit more glamour than the usual goth outfit provides. Being a huge Faster Pussycat fan for longer than I care to remember, tonight was nothing short of magical. All taking place on the night of the solar eclipse, it made a memorable occasion even more unforgettable ... this was a gig to remember for a very long time.

DISCOGRAPHY:-
The Newlydeads
Re-Bound
Dead End

Home

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