Shake Some Action! - 19th / 20th December 1999

Here's a fairly quick round-up of the last few days. After coming back from Canada I was meant to be going to Teen Idols at the Underworld on Saturday. However, that idea got shelved after I managed to pick up a serious case of the flu and thus spent most of Thursday, Friday and Saturday in bed. It wasn't a fun few days to say the least and I was sorry to have to miss the gig because after the first Teen Idols gig I would have done almost anything to see them again! Still, I hear that it was a pretty good gig and the turnout wasn't bad. Apparently Keith now has a gap in his teeth though after smashing a microphone into them last month. After seeing those metal mics that they use I can only imagine what the pain must be like. In fact, NO, I can't imagine it and don't want to either! OW! I did actually make it out on Sunday night (probably not the best idea) to the Bull and Gate to see The Tone et al. First up were Fatty Jones who, for the next few gigs at least, are destined to be known as "Dickie and Golly's new band". The show was exactly what you'd expect from them with a nice mix of new songs and old songs from Stokoe and even HDQ (so I'm told - I don't know much about HDQ). After watching this I think that Dickie is one of the finest guitarists we have in this country and I feel happy to have the opportunity to watch him play once in a while. From watching him I really think that that's something that he just couldn't give up in life. Picking at the strings… doing the silly guitar solos and just evoking emotion through that instrument…. How can you beat that?? That's what I'd love to be able to do and if you have that ability then I say never fucking stop. Southport were up next and it was the usual solid set from them. 30 minutes of fast, melodic hardcore and the nicked ending from The Tone. The biggest surprise was that they didn't open with the usual "woken up and smelled the roses" song but a Southport set with no surprises equals a bloody good set anyway. I'm sorry I can't get more excited about them on this night really as they're a great band but shit, I was ill and shouldn't really have been there to start with! Third on were The Duvals who I haven't seen in a while for various reasons and I was amazed to finally be in a room while they were on stage again. Well, they've changed in some ways and not in others. The good songs that I remember are still there but they seem to have added some kind of heavy metal parody to all of them. The guitarist has always seemed to be a bit of a cock-rocker but when he starts saying things like "assume positions!!" before starting a song then it's going into the realms of Spinal Tap. The backup vocals by the bassist (who I swear looks EXACTLY like the bassist in No Doubt) were ridiculous as well and turned some songs from fairly dark numbers into jokey singalongs. Bit of a shame really as I think people expected more of them. Having said that though I still want to see them again the next time they play because sometimes when I've seen The Duvals play they've blown me clean off the face of the earth and I'd love to experience that again! Last on were The Tone and they weren't bad. I still don't know what to make of this band. Last time I reviewed them I said they were "fucking awful". This time they couldn't have been different. I still can't get excited about them though. They have some fairly decent tunes and yes, the jokey Clash endings but nothing really that memorable. Little Pete seems to like them though! Woman on tube : Have you got a problem? Pete : Only my inferiority to you. Oh dear J Got home feeling thoroughly drained and took the next day off work not rising until about 1.30pm on Monday! That night's gig was much better for me probably because I was feeling a lot better… It was the Shake Some Action / Back To Nowhere shindig at the Cartoon in Croydon, apparently an old rock venue that's been re-opened. The crowd wasn't bad for a cold Monday night and everyone seemed fairly enthusiastic about the whole event. Local punk / ska band "Jinx" were first on and while I wouldn't call them wonderful they weren't terrible either - the worst thing about them was the singer's voice. He should either shout or learn to sing properly. They seemed to have loads of mates in the crowd though and a couple of truly mental kids somersaulting onto an empty bit of floor. Second on was Shonben featuring the old bassist (now on guitar) and drummer from Broccoli. Didn't think they were bad at the time but the only impression I get thinking back on it now is that I musn't have been paying very much attention to them. All I can remember is that I was watching "some band" and it was background noise. Not as good as I'd expected but I'll probably see them again if only to try and shake that unsettling "boring" feeling out of my mind. Next up was Small Brown Bike. Not on the stage unfortunately but on the stereo. God knows what the DJ was thinking before with his soft-rock compilation of Bon Jovi and Queen. This was much MUCH better anyway and we (well three of us) duly went crazy. I felt vaguely unsettled though by the way Steve managed to sing along with all the songs despite not actually knowing most of the lyrics - at least, that's the way it seemed to me at the time. Maybe I'm wrong….. they have that HWM vibe going on in their songs a little bit and even get compared to Jawbreaker sometimes. Personally I don't see that comparison but if someone would like to explain it to me then please do so! After a little while Serpico came on and proceeded to rock the house down as usual. Wiz just seems to have a knack of writing these perfect pop songs that just sink hooks into your mind and refuse to let go… they haven't played that many gigs and they haven't written that many songs but the classics are already there… "Price Of Everything", "Buried Alive", "Winter", "Things Go Wrong" - everyone guaranteed to latch on to you and make you go "yes yes I want more of this perfect pop sound" J There's a bonus too.. all four of the guys in the band are great people and really funny too… next time you go see them say hello! Last on were Southport and they were fucking wonderful as they always are. The first time I saw them was back in January 99 at the Andy Crighton show and they were great then. The second time I saw them was at the Red Eye a few days later and I have to say that was one of the most awesome things I'd ever seen.. I was almost quivering with excitement watching them on that stage…… That show will also hold other happy memories for me as well… for reasons I'll keep to myself right now J At the Cartoon, Southport were as good as they always were but they didn't leave me quivering with excitement for their music… they just left me glad that they existed. Because they're another band that with every single song hold your attention from the first note to the last… they were funny tonight too ending each song with "Snuff Ending 43B" (which is da na na na - like Martin on Demmamussabebonk or I Think We're Alone Now) and fucking everything up with laughter along the way. All of us started dancing halfway through the set which just made everything 20 times better and made me smile like a million suns. What a fucking great night. Let's do it all again soon please.

--Chris