Well the intention had been to have a leisurely drive home after work,
pick my daughter up – she’s realising there’s a lot of decent music around that
isn’t ‘Now 97’ crud and was particularly impressed with Johnny Seven when she saw
them in December, drive up to Teesside, go for a curry and then head over to
The Westgarth before 7.30pm. Unfortunately things didn’t go quite to plan.
Illness prevented her from going and I forgot I had a meeting at work that didn’t
finish until 5.45pm near Harrogate. So I arrive outside the Westgarth at
7.25pm, wolf down some chips and chilli sauce from just down the road and head
back to the venue. Thee Strawberry Mynde are already on stage. I know this
because standing outside you can actually hear the windows vibrating. It’s the
downstairs room tonight and it already looks very busy. Fortunately everyone
seems to be standing at the back and, although I’m not sure why people are so
keen on crowding out this area, it does make getting a pint at the bar and a
decent spot at the front to take a few snaps easy to do.
Thee Strawberry Mynde have been around for the best part of 20 years. Back
in 1998 they released a 4 track cassette, ‘She Sets The Scene’. The line-up
hasn’t changed with Paul Garner (guitar, vocals), Mark Barrett (bass) and Ian
Lowes (drums). They’re not on for long and I like them. Garage, mod songs that
are clearly influenced by the best parts of the 60’s with a beat that keeps
your attention. Heavy, repetitive bass and overlying guitar riffs that run into
a thrashy rhythm to support some strong vocals. As they work through their set
the crowd swells in numbers and the front begins to fill up with people who
appreciate what this band do. There’s a great atmosphere building in The
Westgarth and Thee Strawberry Mynde are working hard to keep it that way. It
can’t always be easy being the opening band but this lot do a great job of
setting the tone for the night.
Facebook here.
YouTube here.
A few more photos here.
Facebook here.
Photos here.
Video - the gig was filmed. YouTube link will be here soon.
Johnny Seven step on the stage and for the next 40 minutes or so we’re
treated to some great punk rock ‘n’ roll. Launching into ‘Shot Down’ it’s punk from today that would have been perfect back
then. Johnny Seven play tunes. Rock ‘n’ roll you can dance to. Proper foot
tapping stuff. With the crowd fully on their side there’s quite rightly a core
of people singing along to ‘Can’t Escape Rock n Roll’. Pretty soon I’m singing
along too.
Tonight they have a new guitarist. Mike Temple is standing in for Jonny
Baines who is off enjoying himself somewhere snowboarding. Temple is clearly an
accomplished player and he nails these songs. He clearly enjoys the gig as do
all the band. There’s no sign of the fact they’ve been around for 39 years. No
tiredness. There’s energy. Lots of it. Singer Dominic Green bounces around his
small area of the stage, Peter Wilson pulls some great noise out of his guitar
while Paul Ford knocks hell out of the drums keeping the beat together with
bassist Paddy Muldowney the only one not breaking into a sweat.
Johnny Seven play some cracking songs tonight and the noise/energy/beat
doesn’t let up throughout ‘LSD’, ‘Pumping The Pomp’, ‘Detroit’ and ‘Burning
Love’. There’s little talk between songs. They come thick and fast with just a
quick introduction. Just how it should be. Arguably their most catchy number
comes near the end. Listen to ‘Skinheads’ and it’s a guarantee that for days
afterwards you’ll be humming “Where did all the skinheads go? Where did all the
skinheads, all those naughty skinheads go?” It’s catchy, it’s punk, it’s ska,
it’s got a bit of reggae. It’s no wonder it gets in your head.
“Lose your mind, lose your soul” – ‘Hang Loose’ ends Johnny Seven’s set
with Ford standing up to play the drums part way through, Temple and Wilson
getting some decent feedback out of their amps and Green waving his arms all
over while providing some great facial expressions for my camera lens.
Facebook here.
Photos here.
Video - the gig was filmed. YouTube link will be here soon.
We don’t wait too long for the Godfathers to start their set. I knew this
was going to be good but I wasn’t prepared for just how good. Opening with ‘Cause
I Said So’, a cracking high energy song that grabbed the audience and set the
tone for the rest of the night. The Godfathers didn’t let go. Nineteen songs
covering most of their back catalogue. And that’s before the encores. At least
six songs from ‘A Big Bad Beautiful Noise’, the new album which is surely set
to become an absolute classic. It really is a beautiful noise. ‘Defibrillator’,
‘One Good Reason’, ‘Till My Heart Stops Beating’ and single ‘You Don’t Love Me’
all feature in the first half. Most are loud, fast, unrelentless rock ‘n’ roll
tunes. ‘One Good Reason’ slows things a little. ‘You Don’t Love Me’ deserves
radio play and lots of it. With the right backing could/should be a massive hit.
B side ‘Some Reaction’ is played and sounds fantastic live. Title track ‘A Big
Bad Beautiful Noise’ comes later as does ‘Feedbacking’. Try listening to these
and not moving your feet / head or tapping your hands. Infectious beats.
‘’I Want You’, ‘I Want Everything’, ‘I’m Unsatisfied’ take us right back
to the beginnings of the Godfathers. Hard to believe it’s over 30 years since
these were released. They still sound fantastic.
‘Birth, School, Work, Death’, again an album of top tunes from ’88 is
represented by ‘Cause I Said So’, ‘If I Only Had Time’, ‘When Am I Coming Down’,
‘Love Is Dead’. It’s title track rounds off the encore by which time
practically the whole audience is joining in with the songs.
‘She Gives Me Love’, ‘How Low Is Low’ and ‘Walking Talking Johnny Cash
Blues’ – dedicated to Steve Harland who has promoted this gig (and works damned
hard to bring other bands to Middlesbrough) from 1989’s ‘More Songs About Love
And Hate’ together with ‘Unreal World’ from the album of the same name complete
the set.
The current Godfathers line up could possibly be the best one yet. Twin
guitar sounds from Steve Crittall and Mauro Venegas, neither of whom stand
still for more than a few seconds, incredibly tight rhythm provided by Tim
James on drums and Darren Birch on bass. Together with Peter Coyne’s vocals and
great way with lyrics this is band to be reckoned with.
It’s hard to believe this is the first date of six in the UK. Godfathers
tonight played like it was the last gig they’d ever do.
They eventually leave the stage. Walking through the crowd to the merch
stand the look on everyone’s faces just says, "Wow. I think I’ve witnessed a
special gig tonight."
I go to a lot of gigs. If I see one hundred bands in 2017 – assuming that’s 50 gigs - I’m convinced tonight will be in the top five.
I go to a lot of gigs. If I see one hundred bands in 2017 – assuming that’s 50 gigs - I’m convinced tonight will be in the top five.
Later that evening I have a quick Facebook conversation with Steve
Harland. He asks me “How do I beat that?” The only reply I can think of is, “Get
them back”.
The whole gig was filmed (with permission) by Dave Shaw and can be seen here.
Godfathers website here.
Facebook here.
More photos here.
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