UKID and Tree House Fire at The Wheatsheaf and Pigeon, Staines.

Friday was a special night for us although I was out for the count for a couple of days afterwards.

For one night, 'The Hobgoblin' lived again when 'The Wheatsheaf and Pigeon' was taken over for a night of live music in Staines.

Apart from a huge crowd, there was a very special line up too;

This is UKID from Glastonbury - one of my favourite Hob regulars. Mixing D.J culture, rapping and heavy metal they are always a blast although now they've added a female vocalist they have mellowed a little. for me

I mainly like their full-on, high energy, political stuff but they were still good and Robyn likes them too. 

There was a definite culture clash - one of the bar staff had her face frozen in a look of jaw-dropping disbelief for most of the evening while the next door neighbours were probably unimpressed as well.

There were some mighty fine bass notes vibrating out from the speakers all night.

Mind you when they total up the nights takings at the bar it may change attitudes.

We are running out of venues very quickly and some of us in the audience begin to suspect the hand of the Police and the local authorities are behind this. It seems to be country wide too.

The second act were 'Tree House Fire' playing their usual blend of white reggae but with wider vocals and a more prominent keyboards this time;

Always fun, they were a great end to a fabulous evening.

There's a huge amount of talent locally and a mobile audience trying to find somewhere to go for a Friday night - it seems strange that every venue that plays live music is closing down.....to be replaced by a chain restaurant.

But there are some interesting initiatives coming up - I'll keep you posted.

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters@blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

Tree House Fire at Baroosh!

It's been a rough week and by Saturday night we were going stir crazy.

I still haven't really got over the closure of The Hobgoblin; it was the ideal music venue and the nearest thing I had to a 'local'.

For one night only, the ghost of 'The Hob' came back to Staines; Tree House Fire played Baroosh!;

It was strange, to say the least.

Baroosh! is everything I'm not; trendy, fashionable and expensive. But for one night only the bar was full of regulars from The Hob, including me.

We saw Jenson Nightingale and Paul Mundy helped out on the sound which really needed a great sound engineer like him.

There were Hob musicians and a number of the usual suspects.....me and Robyn!

Tree House Fire play reggae;

It's not the kind of reggae I grew up with - very 2015.

It's fusion;

Also they usually play differently every time I see them; last night there was a heavy Dub sound;

It was a good night and in a year of 'goodbyes' it was nice to have a night of good memories.

There are big efforts to breath life into the music scene in Staines, there is a Facebook page; Alternative Music in Staines. It's going to be a struggle - a number of bands I liked have given up and the opportunities to see bands are declining quickly.

I have to admit that a long night took its toll on me.

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

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogsdpot.com
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The last ever Hobgoblin.

Saturday and neither of us really wanted to go out anywhere (bad times) but this was the last night at The Hobgoblin, Staines. I've had wonderful times there, I've discovered bands I would never have seen anywhere else; in really bad times it gave me somewhere to escape to.

I thought I'd escape one last time; this is 'The Wonder Beers'.

This band is all about good times - songs about beer and hangovers. Not really what I was about on Saturday but fun all the same.

Then there was 'Tree House Fire';

We saw them a few weeks ago - I was still ill and not really up to it. Anyway they were a whole lot better today - last time they were missing their bass player (on the left).....badly.

No problem today, the steady bass brought out the reggae origins of the band;

They are Hob regulars, you've had to put up with lots of entries about them here over the last year.

Headlining?

There was only really one local band who could do that last night justice; 'The Lagan', 'Celtic punks' from Kingston Town.

As usual when I'm having a lot of fun, my photos suffer.

You wouldn't know it from these pictures but there was an array of traditional instruments from the fiddle to the mandolin and a range of whistles too.

And drums;

It was a fabulous last night for a really great venue.....as you can see;

My thanks go to Ally Garnett who booked the bands and put together all those amazing nights.

To Paul Mundy who was the sound engineer throughout and made an 'L-shaped' old pub, with funny corners and nooks, sound so good.

And to Jenson Nightingale who made it possible, tip-toeing gingerly through a financial minefield and surviving for longer than anyone else would have managed.

In the words of Ronnie Scott; "How do you make a million running a Jazz Club?"

"Start with Two Million!"

What a laugh we all had;

And now, it's really, really sad. The pub will re-open as something else and knowing Jenson it will be something special but it won't be The Hob.

There are countless brilliant young bands who won't find a stage to start out on. On Saturday there were more than a few local musicians in the audience paying tribute to the chances they got at The Hob.

And where ever else could you go to hear Punk, Ska, Techno, Indie, Alternative, the many kinds of Metal (don't ask) and hardly a cover to be heard. 

And on a personal note, it will leave a hole in my evenings that I will never be able to fill.

Tomorrow.....my tribute to the toilets.

Be afraid....... be very afraid!

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

Home:  helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact me:  neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

Back at the Hob! Who'd have thought that would ever happen?

Saturday night when I realised I'd spent three solid weeks being ill and had only occasionally gone out to see a Doctor or go to Hospital there was no choice; we had to go to The Hobgoblin.

It probably wasn't that clever but we were stir crazy. Besides I wasn't going to pay for it till Sunday.

This is 'Tree House Fire', playing their own brand of reggae but they were desperately missing their regular bass player.

Tonight the lead singer was covering bass guitar, this is the lead guitar;

I really like Mocara ('my friend') and of course I'm a sucker for a badge;

They play an eclectic fusion of reggae, punk, ska and rock and roll. Then just to confuse an old buffer like me they always throw something else into the mix.

They played 'Beg, Steal or Borrow', which was their excellent single in the summer. If you Facebook them you can check out their downloads.

They were playing great and really benefited from the great sound at The Hob.

I still find it hard to cope with the fusion of so many genre's but that's just an age thing - Robyn was fine with it because she's a generation younger and grew up fusing music that my age group always kept separate. I'll have to learn to live with that.

What could follow that?

We love 'Eat The Evidence' and if nothing else, the band name does provide some fine and free legal advice.

We got some new songs but we were very happy to hear three old favourites;

There was serious political analysis with 'Tories go to Waitrose'.

 

There was some helpful insight into the complexities of human relationships; "How come you only ever want to F&#K me when you're drunk?"; 

 

 

 

 

But no Eat The Evidence show could ever be complete without 'The Van Song'. I thought the least I could do to improve the lot of humanity would be to post the chorus;

 

"I really like your van, it reminds me of the van I used to be in when I used to be in bands.

 

I really like your van, it's the kind of van I'm going to buy when I stop being in bands"

 

Which pretty much sums it all up really.

 

We love Eat The Evidence; they are witty, clever and fun. Check them out live and see why.They play from here to Central London so there's really no excuse.

 

It was a pleasure to make it to a very special Hob night - we are all very worried about the redecoration and relaunch in January.

 

Then again it's hard to imagine Jenson Nightingale presenting Murph and the Magic Tones on a Saturday night.

 

You may have to Google that band to see what I mean!

 

Neil Harris

(a don't stop till you drop production)

 

Home:  helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

 

Contact me:  neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

 



Tree House Fire, Eat the Evidence and Critical Jac at the Hob.

 

After a hard old week of being ill, being messed about and generally overdoing it, grouchy Neil staggered into The Hobgoblin for an urgent blood transfusion on Friday; it had better work - next week will be worse.

Luckily, I already knew I wasn’t going to be battered by the music – this time I was going to get an easy ride.

That’s Critical Jac, the first of three bands playing Reggae 2014 style (which is not the Ska I love or the slow, slow classic reggae that Robyn likes). They were playing a definite reggae beat but there with some rock and a few other things chucked in there as well.

Then how about this?

                                             Cheers!

That’s disconcerting; I’m going to have to use the ‘A-word’, I’m going to have to break the final taboo. It’s actually quite difficult for me to get the word out – it’s a bit dirty, I feel a bit ashamed.

Yes it’s an accordion.

What do you mean; ‘Speak up?’.

I said, it’s an accordion.

Ok, it’s an accordion. Yeah, that’s folk music, busking beggars and the Paris metro in the summer.

The last person I knew who played one was someone none of us liked or trusted and in the end we decided he was a police spy.

This time it was being played up front by ‘Eat the Evidence’, who somehow managed to fuse reggae with Hip-Hop as well as a few other random styles as well.

What came out in the mix was a lot of fun – the accordian version of Public Enemy’s ‘Don’t believe the Hype’ was unmissable. Like being slapped in the face with a punky, reggae sponge pudding.

At this point I feel I should introduce a voice of reason;

H    [a|Solicitor|writes]

Given the recent amendments to The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, the cuts in legal aid, the inherent imbalance between the resources of the Police and the defence, the psychological disadvantage of being a defendant held in detention awaiting questioning, the class and racial bias of the legal system, Yadda Yadda Yadda, it would be reasonable to recommend to anyone under arrest to;

At any rate, perhaps I can now listen to an Accordion without being ill.

Top of the bill (third time I’ve seen them) were ‘Tree House Fire’, like the other two bands playing their own material and a couple of covers (Daft Punk, yeah really).

I like them more every time I see them and last night they were on top form. If you want to check them out, they have videos on YouTube, and a facebook page too.

It was a dancy, punky reggae night down at the Hob which gives next Saturday night a big challenge; ‘According to you’ and The Wicked Venetians’ are my favourites out of the 5 bands.

Mr Nightingale is celebrating his birthday while the rest of us are just glad that he’s going to leave The Hob alone.

It still works.

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)

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

Crossfire Hurricane, 44 Fires, The Carnabys, Treehouse Fire, The Wonder Beers, Confessions of a traitor at The Hobgoblin Rockgoblin.

Rockgoblin

 

How do you cram 7 bands into one night?

How can you do them justice?

You can’t. You’ll have to take my word that all of them are worth seeing because I saw four of them before and still came back for more.

First in the line-up, in full fancy dress and pumping out Rock ‘n Roll 2014 style was local Staines band Crossfire Hurricane. Better than I remember from the last time; they were tighter and harder.

 

Next on was 44 Fires with their Political Metal. That’s Heavy Metal with a strong dose of left wing politics – mainly Anarchist.

This time round there was no street theatre which was a shame but there was still plenty of angry, idealistic fighting lyrics; songs of peace and freedom.

A different bass player gave them a more traditional Metal sound (what do I know about that?) and playing in an early evening slot is never easy. If I like them there must be something there – I can’t stand metal.

 

Neatly positioned Jägermeister flag there.

Meanwhile these are The Wonder Beers;

 

Armed with raucous songs about beer, kebabs, geezers and Sofa Saturdays recovering from hangovers they weren’t about to disappoint any of their many fans in The Hob.

These are the Carnabys;

 

Of all the bands I hadn’t seen before, I had the highest expectations of them. I liked the last couple of numbers which were gutsier.

What I saw was a really slick, well-rehearsed band; ambitious and tightly focussed on where they are going. They have everything it’s going to take to make it big except for luck and there’s no reason at all why they shouldn’t find some of that.

But the music? I was looking for an edge, a sense of danger and didn’t find it. Ok, I’m too picky. Everyone else thought they were great.

Last band on;

Treehouse Fire, playing Reggae and I saw them a couple of months ago playing with Mocara. This time I took a longer, harder look at them and liked what I heard.

Have I changed? Not sure about that. Certainly this time round I saw them at the end of a long evening which was full of action and noise. Maybe I was looking to come down off that and they turned up at the right time, perhaps I was better able to appreciate what they were doing.

Or have they changed? This time round they were all sporting short hair and ties! Apart from the bouncers, I’m the only one in the Hob who has a tie let alone wears one – where did that all come from?

Did I hear a lot more reggae? Was that Dub? Yeah.

I think that’s how I got won over this time. I’m going to have to catch them again and see what happens next.

And then there’s ‘Confessions of a Traitor’.

Don’t ask me what the music was, I have no idea.

They were in fancy dress but this must be the only band that's probably more outrageous in street gear.

All I remember is a load of noise, synchronised pogo-ing and exploding chaos all around me.

 

By that time the stage was invaded and there were flying bodies everywhere (including mine). I have no idea what is happening here;

Or what they are doing and I don’t really want to know, thanks very much.

All I know is that for a fair old while the singer forgot to use the mike and nobody except me noticed.

Incredibly exciting.

Here’s my advice – max out the credit cards (preferably your own but hey, it’s showbiz - any old ones will do) invent a CV and say or do anything you need to, get yourselves out to the States for a tour of the college circuit.

That’s the small, isolated ones no one goes to.

Where they have courses on corn because they will never believe this. But they will really like it.

Click on a picture for a slideshow and better quality.

That just leaves UKID and I’ll do them separately tomorrow.

Neil Harris

( a don’t stop till you drop production)

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

Classic Hobgoblin; Mocara, Tree House Fire and Captain Accident and the Disasters.

Saturday night and I’m at The Hobgoblin at Staines. It’s my favourite local venue and it’s all set to be a classic night at ‘The Hob’. An evening of Reggae, three bands crammed into one night. Except I always had a certain sinking feeling about it all.

For a start, all the bands are white which is a potential problem for me, if only a cultural one.

Secondly, if I hear someone from the home counties say ‘I and I’, there will be trouble.

And finally, if I catch so much as a hint of a pretend Jamaican Accent, I’m off home. I can’t even rescue the evening by going to see The SkaSouls, because they are playing the conservative club over the road and I’m not prepared to hand over a fiver to a bunch of tory B@#*&£$ds.

Instead I got something I wasn’t expecting;

I’ll start with Captain Accident and the Disasters, here’s The Captain;

 

And this is one of the disasters:

 
I missed a big part of the set –we’ve been flooded and my Mum’s carers couldn’t get through, so I had to leave, go home and then drive back. When I struggled back in I was met by a big thrash guitar slowed down to half speed and a bass that sent The Hob’s ancient floorboards buzzing. Hmmmh, that’s interesting.

Like all three bands, they were playing their own stuff. Reggae? No, not really but then again no fake accents either. I’ll stick around a bit.

The headliner’s were ‘Tree House Fire’ with a bass that started various internal organs dancing to the beat, always a good thing in reggae terms, but they weren’t letting me off either. A heavy Reggae beat couldn’t disguise the fact that this wasn’t Reggae.

 

And was that Daft Punk I was listening to?

It was.

And metal thrash – why? But it's after midnight and I’m still there.

Now The Hob has a habit of picking out a good line up, usually with a connection. Mocara just took it to the extreme;

What’s going on?  There was Reggae;

There was thrash

In fact there was Reggae and Thrash in most of the numbers, sometimes at the same time.
 

 

 

There was a nod to Ska, but at high speed. There was Punk but they slowed that down. And what’s with the Heavy Metal Jewellery? 

 

I know what it is, those damn kids have been in again and they’ve been listening to my precious record collection without permission. All ‘The Ramones’ stuff has gone and they’ve muddled everything up. I had a 12 inch of ‘Shinehead’ I was really fond of but when I pulled it out there was only a ‘Clash’ single in the sleeve. I have no idea why there is metal in my collection, I never had any of that and why is ‘Burning Spear’ turning up where The Jam should be?

Worst of all I had some mixtapes on cassette which had a lot of sentimental value and they threw them all out. They put the stuff on MP3 and they’ve changed it all around. What did they do to my music? Who gave them the key to the Juke Box?

Oh dear, I just got very old. I was going to use the word ‘context’ and I stopped myself just in time. I was going to mutter about a lot of ignorant kids messing about with really good stuff they didn’t understand because they weren’t there.

Without knowing it I became the curator of the Music Museum and I’m not happy. Who messed around with the Sex Pistols exhibit?

I’m not sure where it’s going but there was energy, there was life, especially from Mocara. They may have been shambling and muddled at times but they got it together and took a lot of music, threw it in the blender and something different came out. Just like 77 in fact, just like we did.

Nice work.

Now if you don’t mind I’ve got to close the Music Museum early today, some vandals have been at the X-Ray Specs cabinet.

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com