RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE

Confession time from me : years ago in a blues band I was playing in , I had the misfortune of finishing my job early . ( 2pm) Instead of going home to south London from soho and then back in the evening to a Great Portland Street , I had a few jars with a friend until the evening . This was a mistake . I was my usual lively self on stage . Unfortunately , I stood on one of the guitarists foot pedals causing unnecessary distortion at the wrong moment . Talking to a few of the crowd ( well about 40 or so, mainly friends ) while playing was frowned upon. If Di Enid from girlschool and Steve Harris can do it then why not me I thought . It was our 2nd gig . At our next rehearsal , my behaviour was discussed . 😬 They basically wanted me to be a stiff cardboard cutout , which I couldn't be . Then a few new songs were suggested : Down man blues/ Blues in my head/ lightning blues. I asked about some red , and realised I'd better quit . No hard feelings though , although the frontman we had ( who I knew ) looked like Rolf Harris and was just las arrogant . Plus he became a thieving alkie . So, lesson learnt ..

The one Beatles track I cannot stand ...Eleanor Rigby ! I had the misfortune of seeing Jack Bruce play that as the last track of his set . Traumatising ! Time to pick on Metallica I think ...Nothing Else Matters and that awful track with Marianne unfaithful! La la la my ar£e ! ( the memory remains )

I had to give myself a massive palm slap or 2 years ago, as I too never gave Bruce a chance ..🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️😀 I saw quite a few gigs with dianno back in the day , but over the years lost a lot of respect for him . I missed the powerslave tour, but redeemed myself by purchasing somewhere in time and going on the various tours over the years . FWIW , I think that Piece of mind is their best album . I can't listen to the dianno stuff now , which may seem odd . As for linlkin park, not my bag .

Fair play for having a go . Good on you . Oh well, never mind the Botox. Onwards and upwards .

Regarding trying to get tkts for bands in this day and age of internet purchasing , I have a great memory of purchasing tkts at the Royal Albert Hall . It was in 2007 . I queued up on a Monday morning for tkts to hopefully see Jean michel jarre l I say queue, it was only about a small gathering of about 20 . Anyway, got into the box office , and the nice lady there was showing me all the seats being booked in real time on her screen . They were selling speedily ,and I did the right thing the old fashioned way by going to the venue . I managed to get tkts 3 rows from the front , I do like the alber hall . As for stadium gigs and outdoor gigs in general forget it ! Been there done that . Lucky to see Rammstein a few times indoors , I was thinking that if they did Twickenham I'd go when they announced a stadium world tour . Thankfully that never happened , and I saw a few of the gigs on that tour on you tube . I am thankful I'm happy with my lot , an not obsessive about bands as I used to be . Plus of course a lot of bands I liked are dying out or dead 💀

With so many categories, I forgot to mention " post punk " . Step forward the Anti-Nowhere League 🙂 The first album is all you need . The infamous / famous track " so what" was originally on the b side of Streets of London , or as it I hate people ?🤔I had it many moons ago . The cd has it anyway . There are othe post punk bands obviously , but to me the Anti- Nowhere League's We are The League has it all . As you were ..

Thanks for the recommendations Lozz . Yeah, Rob is a really good guitarist. I'm an anthrax fan. Unfortunately I have no idea what it was I heard . It was many years ago . Pre 2016 if that's any help 🙂

Mmmm ...more shoegaze ?🤔

A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of Volbeat . I listened to a whole album , possibky more . Something was missing ....Guitar Solo! There weren't any . So to me ..fail! Just seem a bit flat without it . On the whole , I don't really think too much about guitar solos . I love metal . All types ( I think) I love bands like mercyful Fate who have so many guitar sounds that all sound glorious . We can over analyse , but if you start doing that the fun goes .

Wow! Looking at this heading was giving me a headache . I thought for a moment or two , that it was a new musical genre . Having said that , you could ask yourself if you are willing to give a listen to a band or two of the different genres you have listed. Happy Jack is probably something you won't be after attempting to do so. 🙂 Tbh , the chances of you playing the stuff you've mentioned are ..nil imho. Anyway I thought it is only fair to point you into the right direction of some bands to listen too just for the fun of it ,plus you can say you know who some of these bands represent . Stoner ...monster magnet . Doom...Obituary Emo...my chemical romance Harcore ...DRI / Gang Green / sick of it all / stormtroopers of death ( not too sure if all that is correct as nobody really knows) The others I just haven't a clue . I'm sure you'll be pointed in the right direction . Fwiw in all seriousness , have you thought of doing a thrash stray cats tribute ? Plug distortion in your double bass and off you go 😀

Yeah, love Alice in chains . Unfortunately never got round to seeing them . Mudhoney - touch me I'm sick 🤮great! The rest I trued but couldn't get on with them. True what you say though 🙂

Regarding Nirvana , I was indifferent when they cane out . A couple of pals were real fanboys. They played the London Astoria a few times . Me and a couple of other pals got tkts on the door in the Astoria l we ended up upstairs( bleach tour ) 2 guitarists . One of my mates said they were shite. I was indifferent . When never mind came out, I purchased it eventually , but I couldn't get the hype either . Anyway, they added a gig to their British tour at Kilburn empire . They were great ! Apparently Seattle bands had a history of really good gigs and off nights . i don't play them , but may get the urge after reading this ..

I would say there's a strong possibility of them doing a secret / low key warm up gig or 2 . That would be good to see . I've been to a couple of those . Pre Donington warm up gigs by Metallica astoria2 ( a place that sold jumpers during the day ) ,and Charlotte and the Harlots queeh Mary college ( iron maiden ) A few I've missed obviously: Mr and a few mates used to go to the Hippodrome in Leics sq on weds nights in the '80s. It was a metal club . The night we never went, the stones played a secret gig . It was all over the papers next day . Keep 'em peeled 🙂...

Good luck to all getting tkts. The press will be saying how everyone was mad for it / tkts sold out in less than 20 mins/ internet crashes etc . Plus the cost . Things were easier in 1994 ..

That pretty much sums it up for me too. An "edgy" band for celebrities .

Plus of course , it's "parent " these days . The nuclear family is " so last century ". Only imho of course 🙂

Previously owned by JR Hartley ?🤔

These days Ken Barlow can dance better than me . Well done for persisting . Hope it all goes well , and it pays off .

It's a very interesting topic . I look on this from a background of mainly heavy metal / head banging gigs over the years.. For example , a friend and I were at a Diamond Head gig at the Borderline back n the mid '90s. My friend says " there's Glenn Hughes " . Yes the super talented bassist/ vocalist/ druggie . He is smaller than us , and all I saw was a fairly unkempt guy with a large bald patch on the top of his head . We saw him play a few gigs headlining and supporting other bands and him and his band rocked. Looked the ultimate aging rock star from a distance ...but we know what he looks like in real life . Then of course there's Ozzy Ozbourne . I've seen pics of him recently without the makeup and tbh he looks more like Donald trump. There is a minorish guitar god , Michael Angelo Batio who still seems to have a full head of jet black hair . He's getting on a bit , but the hair dye seems to suit him . You can tell he's getting on facially though . Then there's Alice Cooper . Not sure what he looks like without the makeup,, but he looks fine imho . A bit like Colleen Nolan . The trouble with Botox ( allegedly ) , is that if you start doing it, you have to keep it up. The trouble I find with us ordinary folk , is that the bags below the eyes resembling more baggage than Heathrow Airport is the worst about ageing facially . Good luck to you if you can pull it off .