Fangbase - Reviews

Rock Café, Stourbridge

Sunday 25th July 2004

 

The Rock Cafe in Stourbridge is a great music venue - well-organised and friendly staff. But my only complaint is that the stage is quite small and the place is hotter than a Turkish Bath!

We arrived just after doors opening and the first support band came on shortly afterwards. They had a strong Rockabilly-type influence. Unfortunately, I didn't catch their name, which is a shame because they were really good.

The second support, Bleeding Hearts, then took to the stage. I've seen them a few times before, and each time, I've really enjoyed their set. Having a violin player adds more character to their music and seems to make them stand out more, as oppose to being just another 'run of the mill' rock/punk band.

The place became hotter and more suffocating as it filled up. I had a quick look at the set-list as it was being taped to the floor, and it looked like it was going to be a great set.

At around 10.15, The Damned came on stage...

Captain was wearing his pretty pink dress and wig. (It's a surreal sight - man in a pink dress and wig, wearing baseball boots and playing guitar!) Dave started the night wearing a very smart looking suite, and cravat and sported a Gomez Addams style moustache. But the tie and jacket soon came off, because of the heat.

The sound was a bit dodgy at first, but then, the sound at the front is never great, especially when you're standing right next to one of the amps. Dave's microphone went off at one point, but apart from that, there didn't seem to be any other sound problems.

The place was heaving and every now and then, there was a wave of bodies pushing to the front, which knocked the wind out of me as I got crushed against the barrier, and the skin off my hands as I tried to cling on (next time, I'm wearing gloves!). The temperature just seemed to keep rising and the band were visibly hot - sweat pouring from everyone. At one point, Captain seemed to just slump to the floor. He put his guitar down, and I don't know if he just felt like a sit down, but for a fleeting moment, he looked a bit ill. But he soon picked up his guitar again and played the next song sitting down.

The set-list was an excellent, fast-paced mix of old and new(ish) and included a nice surprise - Jet Boy Jet Girl. Dave stood aside, and Captain took centre stage to sing this one. This was the first time I've heard it live, and I really enjoyed it. (It would be nice if it stays on the set for future gigs - hint hint!)

For the encore, Captain returned wearing nothing but a Leopard-print thong, his socks/shoes and beret (gorgeous!). Captain turned his back, and came close to the edge of the stage and stuck his backside out to Ma Moaner, and made her an offer she COULD refuse - he asked if she would like to 'stick her tongue in....' Erm, no - not even for you Captain! Though she did try to have a whack at it (twice actually) and missed!

Another surprise was that the gig didn't end after Smash It Up - instead, they went on to play Neverland, and Looking At You (I think!) Captain explained that tonight's set was chosen by a few of the Message Boarders before the gig, and that they hadn't even had time to rehearse it.
(As usual, I can never remember the set list in full, or in order, sorry.)

All in all, it was a fantastic night. Great atmosphere, good banter and an excellent choice of set list. The band seemed to work particularly hard tonight, what with the heat and the short space of time in which the set list was put together, they were brilliant!

Moaner Lisa

Another...

I missed the last gig at the Rock Cafe and having read the reviews of that one, I was glad that the band played there again this time round and I could see what seems to be so special about the gigs there. This one was definitely not a disappointment (and lasted the best part of two hours) with some surprises lurking in the set list, of which more later.

Things kicked off with Street of Dreams, with Dave doing his customary trick of coming on to the smallish stage just in time to do the vocals. Sporting his now infamous moustache, a blue and white spotted cravat and a blue blazer I thought looked a dead ringer for Leslie Phillips! This was one of the hottest venues I've ever been in and Dave's cravat and blazer were soon discarded. Pinch looked a bit hot to say the least behind the drums right from the start and there were plenty of T shirts discarded by the sweaty enthustiastic blokes pogoing down the front too.

Next up was Disco Man, followed by Amen, Melody Lee, Anti-pope, Absinthe, Eloise, Would You Be So Hot, See Her Tonight, History of the World, Blitzkreig Bop, I Fall, Ignite, New Rose, Neat Neat Neat, Jet Boy Jet Girl, Love Song, Smash it Up, Neverland and Looking At You (as usual I've fogotten the running order so I've nicked this bit off the message board courtesy of WR - hope he doesn't mind).

I'm sure the band are getting tighter and tighter - and the songs are taking on a harder edge, all of them played to perfection. Excellent sound as well.

It wasn't just the songs and the performance of them that made this gig so good, it was the on-stage banter too - all of the band seemed to be a having a high old time of it.

My favourite bits:

*Captain (wearing a fetching pink dress) bemoaning the fact that his long blonde wig prevented him from seeing (and playing) his guitar properly. "How did all those 80s big hair bands manage then" asked DV "All tapes" came the reply, before Captain launched into a reminisence about Rob Zombie's band using tapes;

*"Make your mind up Madam" - DV to Captain after he'd taken his syrup off and put it back on again about six times between songs;

*"You look nice - fancy a bunk up?" - DV to Captain;

*Dave asking the crowd just before Amen if they'd been to church that morning. "I'll take the tide of fuck offs as a no shall I";

*Captain taunting the roadie 'cos he's a vegetarian who doesn't like sweetcorn;

*Blitzkrieg Bop - a Stourbridge speciality methinks and very, very good;

*Melody Lee, with Pinch telling the crowd to slow down because they were 6bpm too fast;

*Absinthe - a great song;

*New Rose, with the drum intro done by Pinch in the style of Adam and the Ants. DV did a nifty A. Ant impersonation here too;

*Jet Boy, Jet Girl (the first time I've seen it live and the set's highlight for me) with the unusual sight of Dave doing backing vocals. Superb;

*Smash It Up - unusually not the last song but excellent as ever;