Post by South-Punk Admin on Jul 18, 2007 16:45:55 GMT
Arriving at the Carling Academy, Islington for The Paul Fox of The Ruts and Cancer Research Benefit Gig (put on by Peafish Promotions) I immediately saw Alex Ogg and Dawn and we both said how much we were looking forward to the show, albeit tinged with obvious sadness given the reasons for the night. The sold out venue started to fill out early, and John Otway took to the stage, opening the proceedings with a spirited 'Really Free', and played a great version of The Sweet's 'Blockbuster'. He was soon followed by Ed Tudor Pole and the Peafish House Band (Rowland Rivron on Drums, Lee Harris on Guitar an Tony Barber of The Buzzcocks on Bass), whom after an opening number I didn't recognise, performed an uplifting version of 'Swords of a Thousand Men'.
John Robb of Goldblade was the compere for the night and provided good links between bands, and the Club Ska sound system provided the great music between bands - from The Ramones to Ska! - and often detailing an artists pertinence to being on the evening's bill.
Next up was TV Smith, continuing with The Peafish House Band, and they opened with a blistering version of Adverts fave 'One Chord Wonders', followed by a killer 'Gary Gilmore's Eyes' which saw the audience really starting to swell and move in unison.Splodge came on stage next with full band and did great versions of 'I Fell in Love with a Female Plumber from Harlsedon NW10' and 'Two Little Boys, the latter especially surprisingly poignant. Wurzel from Motorheard joined the band for a bit on Guitar, and John Otway came out again on Theremin, with the band ending with 'Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please'. Spoldge also had the un-enviable task of letting the audience know that sadly Kelly Johnson of Girlschool had died of cancer of the spine the previous day. There are no words, as he said.
Following Splodge were the ever excellent UK Subs. I admit to having always had a soft spot for the band, especially their first few albums, and The Subs (with Tony Barber on Bass) let rip with some classic punk. 'C.I.D.', 'Tomorrow's Girls', 'Stranglehold', 'Emotional Blackmail', 'Party in Paris' and a charged version of Subs classic 'Warhead', which saw virtually the entire audience joining in and singing along. Incredible. Charlie was fantastic and really gave it everything as usual and I must say I was really impressed.
With great interval sounds, the Club Ska sound guy informed us that the next act - Misty in Roots - were responsible for helping get The Ruts their start, by putting out their first single - the immortal 'In a Rut' - on their own People Unite Label. I remember John Peel playing Misty in Roots a lot back in the day, but had not seen Misty live before and I have to say they were great, the real deal. Their harmonious sound really clicked with the audience and they added yet another ingredient to the already very special mix that constituted the evenings unique line up.
Following Misty were The Damned. Captain Sensible revealed just the briefest of anecdotes regarding the Damned/Ruts tour capers from '79 (It involved prodigious amounts of horse manure!), illustrating the great bond they shared, and the band were clearly glad to be part of the bill, and started with an excellent version of 'Love Song'. Then 'Second Time Around' (Machine Gun Etiquette), 'Eloise', 'Neat Neat Neat', 'New Rose and finally 'Smash It Up'. During New Rose especially the place exploded and the band proved they'd lost none of their vitality, with Dave Vanian looking like he's getting younger if anything. Incredible and inspiring.
Next was Tom Robinson and a friend on acoustic guitars. The opening number wasn't too hot and it seemed to start to drain off all the energy that had built up during the course of the evening. Thankfully TV Smith came onstage again, and joined them in a song of TV's called something like 'The Thin Green Line' before they all belted out a rousing version of 'Up Against The Wall', reminding everyone what a great band TRB at their peak were.
With spirits raised high, following John Robb's announcement that now the main part of the evening was about to happen, the place exploded...on walked Segs, Dave Ruffy and Paul Fox...The Ruts! Henry Rollins came out to take on the vocal duties and was fully aware of the impossible task of filling Malcolm Owen's shoes, and made it clear his performance was in tribute to his love of this seminal band, and I thought he struck a perfect note. I think his performance was truly outstanding and just right.
Paul Fox was visibly moved and was speechless, such was the outpouring of love towards him from the Punk generation and beyond in the audience. From the opening song 'Something That I Said', everyone seemed to sing along to every word, every line, every nuance, and the sound was incredible. The band were staggering - 'SUS', 'Staring at The Rude Boys' a colossal 'Jah War', a truly killer version of 'Babylon's Burning and a monumentally brilliant 'In a Rut' that literally brought the house down. You'd almost never know that Paul had cancer and had apparently been in a hospice for 6 weeks and only had 10% lung capacity. His playing was sublime and inspiring beyond words. For 'In a Rut' Charlie Harper, Tony Barber and Captain Sensate joined Segs at the mic for the backing vox and it was one of those moments.
After expressing his heartfelt love and thanks to everyone for coming, Paul Fox and the band left the stage, and then probably the most touching moment of the night occurred, when, even though there was no one on stage, what seemed like the entire audience kept singing 'You're In a Rut, you've got to get out of it, out of it, out of it You're in a Rut' over and over and over....very, very emotional. John Robb came out and said how brilliant it sounded and that Paul had exhausted himself beyond endurance and sadly couldn't play any more, but the audience just kept singing and the night ended on the strongest high.
Inspirational...
John Robb of Goldblade was the compere for the night and provided good links between bands, and the Club Ska sound system provided the great music between bands - from The Ramones to Ska! - and often detailing an artists pertinence to being on the evening's bill.
Next up was TV Smith, continuing with The Peafish House Band, and they opened with a blistering version of Adverts fave 'One Chord Wonders', followed by a killer 'Gary Gilmore's Eyes' which saw the audience really starting to swell and move in unison.Splodge came on stage next with full band and did great versions of 'I Fell in Love with a Female Plumber from Harlsedon NW10' and 'Two Little Boys, the latter especially surprisingly poignant. Wurzel from Motorheard joined the band for a bit on Guitar, and John Otway came out again on Theremin, with the band ending with 'Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please'. Spoldge also had the un-enviable task of letting the audience know that sadly Kelly Johnson of Girlschool had died of cancer of the spine the previous day. There are no words, as he said.
Following Splodge were the ever excellent UK Subs. I admit to having always had a soft spot for the band, especially their first few albums, and The Subs (with Tony Barber on Bass) let rip with some classic punk. 'C.I.D.', 'Tomorrow's Girls', 'Stranglehold', 'Emotional Blackmail', 'Party in Paris' and a charged version of Subs classic 'Warhead', which saw virtually the entire audience joining in and singing along. Incredible. Charlie was fantastic and really gave it everything as usual and I must say I was really impressed.
With great interval sounds, the Club Ska sound guy informed us that the next act - Misty in Roots - were responsible for helping get The Ruts their start, by putting out their first single - the immortal 'In a Rut' - on their own People Unite Label. I remember John Peel playing Misty in Roots a lot back in the day, but had not seen Misty live before and I have to say they were great, the real deal. Their harmonious sound really clicked with the audience and they added yet another ingredient to the already very special mix that constituted the evenings unique line up.
Following Misty were The Damned. Captain Sensible revealed just the briefest of anecdotes regarding the Damned/Ruts tour capers from '79 (It involved prodigious amounts of horse manure!), illustrating the great bond they shared, and the band were clearly glad to be part of the bill, and started with an excellent version of 'Love Song'. Then 'Second Time Around' (Machine Gun Etiquette), 'Eloise', 'Neat Neat Neat', 'New Rose and finally 'Smash It Up'. During New Rose especially the place exploded and the band proved they'd lost none of their vitality, with Dave Vanian looking like he's getting younger if anything. Incredible and inspiring.
Next was Tom Robinson and a friend on acoustic guitars. The opening number wasn't too hot and it seemed to start to drain off all the energy that had built up during the course of the evening. Thankfully TV Smith came onstage again, and joined them in a song of TV's called something like 'The Thin Green Line' before they all belted out a rousing version of 'Up Against The Wall', reminding everyone what a great band TRB at their peak were.
With spirits raised high, following John Robb's announcement that now the main part of the evening was about to happen, the place exploded...on walked Segs, Dave Ruffy and Paul Fox...The Ruts! Henry Rollins came out to take on the vocal duties and was fully aware of the impossible task of filling Malcolm Owen's shoes, and made it clear his performance was in tribute to his love of this seminal band, and I thought he struck a perfect note. I think his performance was truly outstanding and just right.
Paul Fox was visibly moved and was speechless, such was the outpouring of love towards him from the Punk generation and beyond in the audience. From the opening song 'Something That I Said', everyone seemed to sing along to every word, every line, every nuance, and the sound was incredible. The band were staggering - 'SUS', 'Staring at The Rude Boys' a colossal 'Jah War', a truly killer version of 'Babylon's Burning and a monumentally brilliant 'In a Rut' that literally brought the house down. You'd almost never know that Paul had cancer and had apparently been in a hospice for 6 weeks and only had 10% lung capacity. His playing was sublime and inspiring beyond words. For 'In a Rut' Charlie Harper, Tony Barber and Captain Sensate joined Segs at the mic for the backing vox and it was one of those moments.
After expressing his heartfelt love and thanks to everyone for coming, Paul Fox and the band left the stage, and then probably the most touching moment of the night occurred, when, even though there was no one on stage, what seemed like the entire audience kept singing 'You're In a Rut, you've got to get out of it, out of it, out of it You're in a Rut' over and over and over....very, very emotional. John Robb came out and said how brilliant it sounded and that Paul had exhausted himself beyond endurance and sadly couldn't play any more, but the audience just kept singing and the night ended on the strongest high.
Inspirational...