Dan P

Dan P
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

A speaker at the Catalyst Club once tried to sell the idea of going to church (and the doomed St Peter's in particular) by saying it's a place you can sing at the top of your voice and nobody cares (have I used this intro before?). You can also go to an acoustic punk gig, like the ones organised by Pog. Last night it was The Station, a pub with a fine selection of real ales but a schlep to get to (unless you come by train - it's right by Preston Park station). I'd missed Wob by waiting for the rain to abate, but caught the aforementioned band, who did a new song about a cafe but didn't do 'Go vegan' because Paul apparently has gone vegetarian! Had a good la la sing-song to 'In heaven' nevertheless. Next up were The Flying Marrows, who seem to have a fixation on Japanese girls. They performed many new songs and were joined on stage (the pool area of the bar) by the headliner Dan Potthast. I'd never seen the bespectacled one before (he's from California and in MU330) but it was like stumbling upon a private party where everyone else knew all the words to all the songs and sang along with gusto. They were eminently singalongable to however so a good time was had by all. Give him a listen. I came away with 3 CDs, 2 stickers and 2 badges, having consumed a pint of Harveys and 2 pints of dark Arundel. Dan thought it highly amusing to be playing in a pub in Preston Park with the rain belting down outside and wondered what the regulars thought of it all. Big contrast with Santa Cruz I expect! There was no admission by the way just a greasy hat carried round by Andy. The lighting was crap, so my photos are not much cop...

I've just finished reading 'Pies and Prejudice' by Stuart Maconie which I can highly recommend to ex-Northerners like me who couldn't wait to get away from the place but feel slightly nostagic about the rare returns - me, I always play The Smiths on my iPod as the train approaches Manchester Piccadilly! Must get up to the North East sometime - and Barrow! Great cover too, by Grey318.

The Only Ones reunited?

According to the ATP website, The Only Ones are to reform, with Peter Perrett! I saw their farewell gig at the Lyceum and eternally regret leaving before the encores to catch my train back to Guildford. Their track 'Someone who cares' (from Even Serpents Shine, 1979) is one of my all-time favourite songs.

The Jam 2007 Tour

Looks like The Gift has rebranded as The Jam - minus Paul Weller. Good for them! Shame they are not playing Guildford Civic Hall (tho the Uni did host The Who once!) - or Brighton! See my blog review of Rick and Bruce's band.

Frogspawn

frogspawn
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

My froggies have given birth in the garden pond I built for them - more than a month earlier than they did last year!

Save Titnore Woods

Spent a few hours in Worthing yesterday, visiting the Museum (to see the Small World exhibition), having lunch with Dan, going on a demo to Save Titnore Woods!, and finally a treat trip to Waitrose to buy a veggie pasty for my tea (plus a bottle of Somerset Pomona with a Burne-Jones picture on the label to enhance the Pre-Raphaelite experience of earlier seeing Holman Hunt's 'Bianca' for the first time). The Small World exhibition had a wonderful model of 'The Great Bear,' the UK's first Pacific and the only one ever built by the GWR - and as a railway theme developed, we heard that Worthing had been visited that very morning by a streamlined steam train, 34067 'Tangmere'.

Ginger Lee

Ginger Lee
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Cheeky David Bramwell assured us by email it'd be three acts for the 'price of a pint' but if they charge £6.50 where he drinks, he should change pubs! We're back at The Albert on a Sunday night (nice to notice the Banksy kissing policemen have been restored and protected by a plastic covering). Solo David tinkled the bruised ivories, sang wistful songs and told tales about Th'Oddfellows Casino, a travelling freak show with family connections, and Barry the versatile Whitehawk psychic. Listen to the full band on MySpace. We were meant to have the accordion player from Bat for Lashes next but instead we had the unexpected pleasure of catching the elusive Ginger Lee, someone I've wanted to hear for a long time. Caroline used to be a waitress at Capers, serving the best toasted teacakes in Brighton. Tonight she stands still on the stage with guitar, singing so sweet and tremulous you could hear the harsh click of my camera! Highlight was a beautiful rendition of 'My Old man (said follow the van)' so disguised it came as a surprise when I realised... it's not on the CD but it is on MySpace. Ooops, just discovered, Ginger is the accordianist for Bat for Lashes - just didn't spot her on The Culture Show the other night! Headliner was Tobias Froberg, a Swedish Paul Simon (with the looks of a Swedish Art Garfunkel), nursing a gammy leg injured evading Stockholm's jumpable tube barriers. Lovely voice and guitar, but too many love songs for Lisa's liking! Take a listen. Not a rolling cavalcade of laughs, but an evening definitely worth the price of a large Islay malt (which I had back home watching The day after tomorrow).

A frog he would a-wooing go

froggies
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

All that work building a pond in my garden last year has paid off! The frogs are back and are currently mating... Last year I snapped them mating right at the end of March! Is this evidence of global warming? Hope the pond doesn't freeze over. Wonder how much frog spawn survived from last year?

Mr Solo at Short Fuse

Mr Solo at Short Fuse
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

As penance for missing the last David Devant gig, I had to endure the first half at Short Fuse, upstairs in The Camden Head, London. First up was a bloke (Julian Fox) I'd describe as ill-prepared reading accounts of bus journeys from his laptop (a Mac, but he is not forgiven that easily). Then it was a scary woman in glasses (Rhian Edwards), who seemed quite nice as she chatted to the audience, but then adopted a 'poetry voice' and reminded me how poetry, like samba bands, is something it's probably more fun to do than listen to. Believe me, I used to perform excruciatingly pretentious stuff back in the 1960s and cringe every time I think of what I put loyal audiences comprising mainly schoolgirls through! They must have been loved by some of the audience, however, judging by the empty seats for the second half - as a friend is fond of reminding me whenever I get into grumpy old man mode, I'm probably not their target audience. Earlier I'd been a spectral roadie for the evening, helping carry some of Mikey's kit upstairs, and he was in full Mr Solo character for his energetic feature-length multi-media performance starting and finishing with 'Number One (Home Sick Home)' and including most of his light switch album. Towards the end he whipped out his pink ukulele and in the spirit of the evening did two accompanied poems: one about 'Spunk Rock' and a paeon to CBB Jade and the Oxo cube. To the dying strains of 'X-Box X-Box' I had to run for the bendy 38 back to Victoria and the midnight train to Worthing (I got off at Brighton). Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio on 'Dogs' kept me company. A nice pint of Bombardier and lime 'n' soda at 64p made the Camden Head a great venue.

Reclaim bank charges

Reclaim bank charges
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Watchdogs Back Fight Against Bank Charges (from The Argus): they're all at it now! The Argus jumps on the 'reclaim your bank charges bandwagon'!

I first became aware of reclaiming bank charges through Martin Lewis's money saving website but didn't do anything about it until I saw the BBC Money Programme on a village where they'd all done it! So a letter - a combination of the two templates - went to the Co-op bank on 13 December claiming 160 quid's worth of charges from when I went slightly overdrawn - plus interest - and a letter came back on 3 January with a refund (no interest, but I'm cool about that). Now everybody is at it!

Had a hilarious half hour on Satuday watching a recording of Count Arthur Strong's radio show at Komedia. It also starred Sue Perkins and Dave Mounfield. An excellent 2 quid's worth of entertainment!

Wob

Wob
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Being on the wagon is not conducive to going out, hence the lack of blogging recently. I have in fact actually set foot in pubs since 1 January 2007, on a Clarion bike ride and to the Catalyst Club at the Jooglebury last Thursday. On the first I resisted a pint of Harveys for that excellent and cheap substitute - a pint of lime and soda. At the Jooglebury it was easy to forgo their selection of overpriced young-persons' continental lagers in favour of said substitute, but at an extortionate £1.45 a pop it was nearly cheaper to go for beer! However I couldn't resist a night at the Albert and a pint of Pullman. It did go straight to my head and I had to immediately water it down with an 80p (that's more like it) glass of L & S! The occasion was Kerry's birthday gig and the line up was Deacon on piano and guitar, followed by Asbo Derek (with Kerry on bass and Don Bradman as guest harmonizer), Pog (also with Kerry on bass, Deacon on keyboards and Wob on drums) and Wob with band headlining. Wob was augmented by a bass and drums (John and Jon) and played selections from his excellent new mini-album 'A month of Sundays' (which can be ordered from his website), including the rather wonderful charity shop anthem 'All for a good cause'. Not going out much means you forget to stock up with cash so it was only by sticking to the one pint (and an L&S) that I could scrape together the necessary fiver to purchase a signed copy of said mini-album. Wob has a fine voice - give him a listen.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Happy New Year to one and all! I've still got a stinking code (cold) so spent last night watching Adaptation (must watch it again whenever I get writers' block!) and Jools Holland on tv, sipping some of that amazing cask-strength apple brandy Sam bought me for Xmas (I am now today officially on the wagon)! Went on the obligatory Clarion bike ride to a jam-packed Carats cafe at the end of Shoreham harbour. It was a glorious day, albeit with a strong wind against us as we travelled west. Behind us Brighton was busy preparing security for the Fatboy Slim concert this afternoon. After polishing off a plate of egg and saute potatoes in the open air outside Carats, stopped off to do some trawler spotting behind Fatboy's house on Millionaires' Row, hoping maybe to see the one Judy Stevens drew. Back in town, I managed to bump into most of the people I know in Brighton, including Peter Chrisp who reminded me I hadn't blogged the Count Arthur Strong show I saw with Peter and Lisa. So here it is: he's a sort of cross between Harry Worth and Fred Emney, with a touch of John Shuttleworth and Freddie Frinton, ie a posh drunken thespian of Northern Origin prone to 'senior moments' played by Steve Delaney. He was ably assisted in the Komedia performance of 'It just wouldn't be Christmas without us - now would it eh!' on 23 December by sidekick Terry Titter, a scouse entertainer of yesteryear, buxom TV cook Irene Titter, and Malcolm, a camp graduate of the Count's Doncaster Academy (all played by Terry Kilkelly). After several false starts with voices off, it started shambolically and got even more chaotic, but in the most amusing surreal way, ending with the audience tiptoeing out leaving Count Arthur and Terry both asleep on the sofa in front of the telly! An act to catch again in Edinburgh next year for sure.

Theme Time Radio Hour

I've had a stinking code (cold) since Xmas day so haven't been out much. But I have been thoroughly enjoying Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour, currently being repeated on BBC Radio 2. Checking out the playlists, I'm pleasantly surprised to see he plays a Bonzo track on 'Halloween'. I hope he does a 'Trains' programme sometime soon!

Yvonne's tour diary

All the back-stage gossip and photos of the Bonzo's tour I didn't see - from Yvonne Innes on the Neil Innes Music website.

Filming Axed Arts Centre

Irony Of Film About Axed Arts Centre (from The Argus): "A documentary on the last months of an arts centre is being funded by the organisations whose cuts contributed to its closure. Award-winning film-maker Michele D'Acosta will shoot a fly-on-the-wall documentary about the final season at Gardner Arts Centre in Brighton. The film is being funded by Brighton and Hove City Council and the Arts Council South East." As Nick pointed out, Londoners wouldn't think twice about travelling 10 minutes to see a gig or concert! Shame on Brighton!

The Lovely Brothers

lovely, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

My camera went bananas at the Pog gig at the Cowley Club last night and produced some weird ghostly images of The Lovely Brothers (I'd set the flash to 'slow'!). I'd already missed openers We am Janet but caught a fine set by Asbo Derek (check out their anthem 'The night James were excellent' on MySpace), an energetic Wob, and then after another personnel shuffle (Paul's sister Kerry seems to be in most bands tonight!) it was Pog, playing for the second time that day (most of the bands had played earlier at the Albert to celebrate Paul Stapleton's birthday). Then, fresh from an engagement in Shoreham, The [incognito] Lovely Brothers exploded onto the stage area to finish another fantastic free event at the famous anarchist club in superb style, lubricated on my part by Dark Star's excellent Solstice and Pale ales (cheers Rich!). I'd missed the Sussex County Arts Club xmas party to be here, but no regrets (there'll be a rant about parties and group meals another time, suffice to say that IMO while parties drain the energy out of you, live music continues to be exhilarating and life enhancing - support it whenever you can!). So tired this morning I missed my regular Clarion ride...

Is The Gardner Arts Centre too far from the City?

Is The Gardner Arts Centre Really Too Far From The City (from The Argus): my letter about the closure of the Gardner Arts Centre at Sussex University, Falmer. Can someone explain how the excellent Gardner Arts Centre in Falmer is considered too far away from the city centre for Brighton and Hove City Council to continue funding it ("Arts centre faces closure", The Argus, December 8), but that the proposed football stadium, across the road in Falmer, is close enough to be treated as a city resource? Do sports fans exist in a different space/time continuum to arts enthusiasts? Alan (Fred) Pipes, Gerard Street, Brighton

The Gift

The Gift, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

What do you call a tribute band with one of the original members? The Gift is Rick Buckler, drummer with The Jam, along with Rickenbacker wielding Paul Weller substitute Russell Hastings and Bruce Foxton sub Dave Moore. They were playing at Concorde 2 in Brighton, not my favourite venue as it's a bit of a cycle, but redeeming itself by having a single Harvey's pump on the bar among the ubiquitous lagers. Support when I arrived were local mod rockers Young Soul Rebels who sounded just right for this audience of hardened Jam fans. Then a gap and on came The Jam, err The Gift. To a chant of 'we are the mods' from an audience possibly too young to have been first-generation (or even second-generation) modernists, they launched into 'This is the Modern World' and from then in it was Jam song after Jam song, much to the delight of the ecstatic audience who sang along to every one. Half way through, unannounced, on walked the real Bruce Foxton, and the crowd went mental. Dave handed over the bass and took up rhythm guitar and we had the great Kinks cover '(I wish I could be like) David Watts' played by two-thirds of the original Jam. Finale, several hits later, was the rousing 'Eton Rifles' and the three-song encore finished with the crowd pleaser 'Down in the tube station at midnight'. That's entertainment! A fantastic gig, with all the energy, drive and freshness of those Jam gigs way back when, twenty-odd years ago. On the way home, along Madeira Drive, police were out keeping an eye on boy racers with pimped-up cars, and inspecting (and towing away) stretch limos! Brighton on a Saturday night is a very strange town.

Minor rant: the ticket price was a good value 12 quid, but I paid 13.50 at the Dome Box Office. Why the extra 1.50? Booking fee, that's what (I should have bought it at Resident Records, who only charge a quid). If I'd bought it on t'internet I'd have paid booking fee, credit card surcharge, postage, etc etc. Never mind outrageous bank charges, this needs to be looked at! Rip off, I say!

A Jolly Xmas

A Jolly Xmas, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Have a great Winterval!

fred

Bonzo photoset

Some superb photos of the Shepherd's Bush Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band gig I didn't go to!

The King Blues

king_blues_4, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

It's not often you find a new favourite band. The last time was when I ventured bored from the Wooden Bridge in Guildford in the late 1970s up to the Royal and was captivated by my first hearing of The Vapors. The same thing happened at Paul Stapleton's garden party where I first saw and heard The King Blues. They'd sold out of CDs then so I bought one off the website and it's been buzzing round my head ever since ('Taking over, taking over' etc). So tonight's gig at the Albert was no disappointment. The gig started with We am Janet, an Anal Beard spin-off, followed by the consistently entertaining Pog, whose line-up seems to change with every gig. This time, Paul's sister had a new string bass. They did all our favourites and allowed us to join in alternate tracks. Someone at the Catalyst Club once said that the best thing about going to church was that you could sing as loud as you like and nobody would mind. It's the same at a Pog gig. We la la laed and went vegan (you cow sucking pervert) at the top of our voices! It was a relief too to hear his song about football. So, it is allowed to oppose the stadium at Falmer, after all? Phew! What if it were a Bingo Hall, said Paul? Eh? What would Attilla think?

The King Blues were another gear up. Any band as political, and with whistling and ukulele action too, is fine by me. What's with the name though? They don't do blues as we know it - it's more like do-wop ska punk folk reggae rap really. I asked Itch and he said it was a reference to those big Rizlas. The climax was that great community sing-along 'Taking over' with Itch dividing the room into competing halves. The encore had a fine voiced Fruitbag taking over the mike to sing an empassioned 'Bella Ciao' which everyone loved to bits. They are somehow involved with the ongoing Smash EDO protest in Brighton too. So If they are appearing near you, get along there - you are in for a treat.



I noticed when unlocking my bike that someone had vandalised the Banksy kissing policemen outside the Prince Albert, but strangely left George Best alone! This area of wall is usually meticulously conserved, so will it be restored, I wonder?