Those Wicked Venetians down at The Cave, Addlestone.

Friday 13th? Who cares?

I did, I wasn't so good - got tired in Tesco's and never really recovered, then went out to The cave at The Holly tree in Addlestone to see The Wicked Venetians..

Except we nearly didn't - I kept getting lost, driving round and round. I nearly gave up until we realised that the road was closed.....so I wasn't quite as stupid/ill/past it as I thought.

Still, we were late; missed the support act, missed the beginning of the Venetians - I think The Cave still has some noise issues with the neighbours, they shut down early.



                           

Also, as you can see; lousy photos. I wasn't myself.

The venetians were in good form - headlining, confident, relaxed. It was a good performance; fine guitar work, really good drums, solid bass.

I was happy, it just ended far too quick.

 

 

 

 Neil Harris

(a don't stop till you drop production)

 

Home:  helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

 

Contact me:  neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

 



Tapestry and The Wicked Venetians at The Hobgoblin Rockgoblin.

So anyway, at The last ever Rockgoblin I was passing out under a very silly mask I made for myself and taking pictures through a couple of tiny eye holes.

We tended to watch bands we'd seen before and liked (it's an age thing).....starting with 'Tapestry';

 

 

That's Mathew Williams in the middle playing bass. You can catch him back at The Hob on 5th November when he is playing solo acoustic guitar. It's thoughtful, clever stuff.

 

Not on Saturday it wasn't - it was stomping;

  

 

 



It's the second time we've seen them - as a band they are really getting it together. We both noticed the difference from a couple of months ago;

 

 

And then there were 'The Wicked Venetians' - if you follow this Blog you will have got bored with hearing about them from me.

 

I really like what they do - have a look at their videos on YouTube, have a look at them on facebook.

 

They came as 'Three Blind Mice' and were definitely the best dressed band of the night....they had tails!

 

See what I mean?

This is a band who thrive on headlining - check them out if you can and by that I mean I'm hoping there's one last chance to see them at The Hob.

Tomorrow I'll review 'The Lagan', 'Eat the Evidence and 'Cultural other'.

It was quite a night, you should have been there.


Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)

Home:  helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

Hobgoblin in a mist; The Wicked Venetians, According to you, Girl in the garden.

I’ve been having internet troubles; running a high powered multimedia campaign without broadband is not so easy. There’s been a bit less of the ‘multi’ in my media recently.

But I do have a surprise for you on Monday – so much so I can’t actually tell you about it till then. It's a secret.

I can tell you about the Jenson Nightingale 50^th birthday bash at The Hobgoblin, which he celebrated by laying on 5 bands and a fair supply of Jägermeister.

I didn’t catch all the acts – I was distracted by an amazing plate of noodles and a cloud of mist which meant my poor old pawnshop camera couldn’t cope very well.

I did get to see ‘According to you’, a local band which has been around for years but still seems fresh;

 

And then a band I’d travel some way to see;

The Wicked Venetians who have a new video out which you can check out for yourself by searching for them in YouTube.

Any way I took some great photos, shame about the mist.

But as I said, after we’d polished of the noodles I got even more distracted.

Monday night? Sorry, my lips are sealed – it really is a big secret.

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)

Brooklands College end of year at The Hob.

Thursday night and I’m at the Hobgoblin with Robyn for The Brooklands College music department end of year concert. It’s the Hob at its best; putting on a gala night, putting something back.

This is Girl in the Garden who you’ve seen a number of times;

 

Reduced to a three piece for one night, I prefered their rougher, simpler sound but for the last number they were joined by a former guitarist for a much fuller sound which was more Robyn’s thing.

Then there was Primal Beard;

Where I managed to cut the heads off the excellent female lead and bass guitars. But I didn’t get to cut the beard off;

 
That was a spirited performance.

Amazing young musicians and there were quite a few I didn't pictures of. But, for an elderly punk, where is the anger of a generation that had its future stolen from it?

I'm puzzled.

The really good news for me is that the planned refurbishment of The Hob has been cancelled.

Whatever the reason, I’m glad, I like it the way it is – you can change it when I’m gone.

There’s still going to be a good night on the 19^th – with According to You and The Wicked Venetians there (amongst others) it will be an amazing way to celebrate not making a new start.

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)

Home:  helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

The Wicked Venetians; My heart was in the wrong place.

 

  Wicked

Venetians

Friday night at The Hob was always going to be special: The Wicked Venetians launch party for their new mini-album on Glasstone Records;

 

Available on Amazon I understand but what would I know about that?

Anyway, my war with The Hob’s mist machine hasn’t gone very well. I told you I hired a crack team of Serbian special forces mercenaries to attack it for me:

Die you £$@#er! Die!!

All they did was spend my money on Peach Schnapps and sausage. Then they took one look at security and ran away.

Wusses.

I could construct a small thermonuclear device out of the elements from smoke detectors (google the scout who built a nuclear reactor in his shed, no really….do) or I could buy a better camera……..no, not that.

But it does mean there are some missed moments – like the whole of ‘Midfield Workhorse’ who were playing intelligent, lyrical songs with some wild moments, just for the heck of it.

 LitLikeVegas

I must have been asleep a long time to have missed these people.

 

Frenetic, exciting, worth staying alive for;

 

These pictures snatched in passing moments of clarity don’t do them justice;

 

  Wicked

Venetians

 

This was why I was there, squashed into a corner, surrounded by their fans. Why it was always going to be a good night;

Musical, dramatic, theatrical and I’m trying to freeze shadows in a sea of mist.

Next to me, a venetian was firing off lightning sketches using a 15^th century technology that the court of the Doge’s palace would have recognised – white felt tip pen on black paper.

And she was doing a better job of capturing the moment than my two dimensional cartoons could.

 

The Wicked Venetians; original, talented musicians – catch them if you can and now there’s a disc too.

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)

You can get a slideshow if you click on any picture but you would get a better idea of what it was like from the sketchbook I saw.

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
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UKID,Wicked Venetians, Crossfire Hurricane at The Hobgoblin, Staines.

Saturday night and I’m back at the Hobgoblin  – while the music was never going to be my thing, this was a charity evening and even if I’m not generally a fan of charity; www.stayuplate.org (slogan; “You’ve got to fight for your right to party!”) actually is a good cause – helping people with learning difficulties get out, see music and socialise with the help of volunteers.

If I couldn't have got out after I got ill, I would have given up long ago.

First on Crossfire Hurricane;

 

are a local Staines band playing Rock and Roll, or at least a 2014 version of it.

 

      Vocals: Mike Alderson

       Lead Guitar: James Bickley

       Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals: Kieran Gawley

       Bass Guitar: Tom Ridler

       Drums: Robin Rathbone

 The Wicked Venetians;

      Sam - Vocals, Guitar, Keys

       James - Bass, Guitar, Vocals

       Steph – Drums

 “The band's main source of stolen sounds and ideas comes from bands such as Joy Division, Muse, Him, Nirvana, The Smiths and Arcane Roots”.

 

On balance there was a whole lot of Morrisey in that mix.

Top of the bill – UKID from Glastonbury are big and the kind of stuff I ought to hate; ‘Rock and Drum ‘n Bass’. What kind of mix is that?

 

It was all baseball caps and rap, they are sponsored by a sports and clothing manufacturer, they feature on an online game I’ve never heard of and an Apple Mac laptop was a prominent performer. Worse there was heavy metal too.

 

They are Ben-Jah (Lead Vocals), Glenn (Guitar), KJ (Bass), Joey (Drums).

OK, I admit it, they rocked. Great drum beat, driving metal chords even I could cope with and a bit of politics too.

I even got the line ‘Rude boy at the front’ – that’s me.

I can see how businessmen would be desperate to try to make some of this magic rub off onto their clothing or use it to spice up a computer game.

This lot are going places.

As usual, click on a picture for a slideshow.

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com