Face Of Cheam

Busy busy busy. Anyway this latest post covers the weekend. Actually did nothing exciting until the Sunday (see below). It actually wasn’t a bad weekend to do sod all as BBC had extensive coverage of Glastonbury. Glastonbury has never appealed to me. It’s just too big. It doesn’t appear you can wonder between stages and have a chance of getting a decent view. As it is the TV footage shows that the pit between the stage and the audience was a good twenty feet if not more. So I was glad I could watch it from the comfort of my living room sofa.
There were some good performances, Kasabian probably putting in the best, with Dirty Pretty Things not far behind. I enjoyed John Fogerty and also Iggy and The Stooges. However from the TV there were some disappointing performances. The Fratelllis had an awful brass section added to them which was terrible. The Killers suffered from sound problems and many of their songs you could only hear the crowd singing well above the volume of the band and I hate to say but The Who did not seem that interested. Still good coverage from the BBC (press that red button) so I can give my opinions.

Onto Sunday then. All day drinking sounds good fun but not necessarily when its pounding down with rain. We started at the Oval for the 20-20 Surrey Hampshire match. At one stage earlier in the day it didn’t look like there would be a game, but they managed to get a ten over match in with Surrey looking good winners. Highlight for me was an N-Power girl with the whitest of white teeth giving me my red 4 & 6 sign. Forgetfully she did not write her phone number on it. Shame!
At the conclusion of the match the intention was to head towards Hyde Park for a few support bands (Jet – Chris Cornell) before Aerosmith, but the heavens opened again so an impromptu pub crawl was done of Shepherds Market. Among the pubs were Ye Grapes and the Kings Arms. We also went in the O’Neills where there was a friendly barmaid who was from Sweden yet had dark hair, though she did confess to dying it.
We get to Hyde Park and head quickly into the 2nd stage tent to see a bit of Joe Satriani. Not sure what he was doing except it was a long self indulgent instrumental. After five minutes we head to the main stage only to be slightly disappointed that Chris Cornell had just finished. This was mad up by the fact that the beer on offer was Tuborg. Bonus! Unfortunately as it was crowded and muddy attempts to meet up with friends independently here were futile. However the alcohol was starting to have an effect and I remember it was still raining and I was wet when Aerosmith came on to Love In An Elevator. The set was mainly their late eighties and early nineties hits with a bit too many ballads for my liking although I enjoyed Crazy with Alicia Silverstone on the video screen. Another highlight was the Fleetwood Mac Blues song of Stop Messing Around which was unexpected. They ended with Walk This Way, with an original member of Run DMC guesting although I had indeed forgotten this until reminded a couple of days later. A good show, if a little short, less than 90 minutes from a vaguish memory, just a shame about the weather. My trainers are still drying out in my garage after attempts (which may be pointless) to wash the mud off them!

Saw The Answer on Wednesday at the Borderline, one of my favourite small venues. It was excellent, with songs from their album Rise and a cover of Aerosmiths Sweet Emotion who they are supporting on Sunday. Alas the 20-20 cricket Im attending means I will miss them though should get all of Steve Tyler & Co.

Eventually got round to going to Pirates 3 on Thursday. Entertaining but very complex and I admit I did get lost at one or two places. Difficult to differentiate between what is supposed to be symbolism or what is supposed to be happening. Johnny Depp was fanastic as he normally is, and Keira Knightly should that she can play a feisty role when her character Elizabeth was promoted to King. The Keith Richards cameo was also appreciated. Interesting last scene after the credits too though I don't really like the idea of this which is happeneing in more and more films. (I missed the one in the X-Men 3 film).

Quiet weekend planned until Sunday where its cricket in the afternoon and a rocknroll show at Hyde Park in the evening. Rock on!

So a while between posts. So a decent catch-up to be had. Saw The Sounds last Wednesday hence the photo but we’ll come up to that shortly.
In the few days after Gary Moore I have managed to finalise a route for this year’s pub crawl taking place Saturday week (30th). Visiting 22 Blue Plaques across London seeing homes of such luminaries as Ian Fleming, Florence Nightingale, Jimi Hendrix and Gandhi! Should be a good one.

Had a band practice on the Tuesday, the first for a few months. Sulphur appears to be on a bit a hiatus at the moment although Same Old Song and the first time we’ve tried The Cribs ‘Wrong Way To Be’ led to some great improvisation and reminded me of why we continue to do it sporadically. Do need to organise some gigs though, whether as Sulphur or as a solo act remains to be seen.

So The Sounds then. After a few beers including the new Intrepid Fox again and a place called TPA in Denmark Street I head into the ex LA2 (the Mean Fiddler). Not especially packed they played for just over an hour. They opened up with three of their first album (not available over here although I did buy a copy from the merchandise stall) before moving on to their current album they should be promoting. A cross between the Killers and the Wannadies is generous but gives you an idea of the keyboard – poppy guitar sound should you not know them. Mya the female singer and the guitarist are rocknroll with the onstage drinking and smoking. Made a new female friend during the show who was going to the club Fabric in Farringdon with her gang of friends and managed to persuade me to join them (to be honest I didn’t need too much persuading). However it was foolish as the club was closed but we did find an emptyish place called Dust next door which was open for a few. Despite the elongated night I resisted the temptation to phone in sick on the Thursday and paid the price for it with my team finishing last in the quiz at the Sports Club that evening. To be fair I had some sleep when I did get in from work so not much of an excuse!
Finally Saturday a pub crawl of Carshalton was done culminating in The Woodman where it was Elvis night. Carshalton has always been considered a bit divey but to be fair it’s probably no worse than some other places frequented and although a little pricey our starting point, The Greyhound and the last place are quite good pubs. In between we did the always quiet Racecourse, The Hope, Lord Palmerston and The Coach & Horses.

Been a while since the last post. Since I wrote that Beckham was recalled and set up 75% of Englands goals in their last two games, unsurprisingly for someone who set up 75% of the goals England scored in the World Cup. He should never have been dropped as without him England have no creativity.
Dettori won his first Derby. I actually won some money on the race before with which gave me some money for a random night out!
Friday, I saw Gary Moore at Shepherds Bush. It’s been some years since I last saw Mr Moore headline a show and despite promoting his new album of ‘old’ blues songs he was rather good. I think he benefited from a small band with just bass, drums and keyboards. Because of this I feel the songs were heavier especially the opener ‘Pretty Woman’ and ‘Walking By Myself’. The highlight for me was the reworking of Thin Lizzy’s ‘Don’t Believe A Word’ which went down well with the predominantly male age 40+ crowd. If I had one gripe re the show was that there was probably one too many slow blues songs which tend to meander with elongated solos. However, he did end with ‘Parisianne Walkways’ with a note held for somewhere between 10 and 15 seconds before the last solo, meaning everyone went home happy.

Tuesday I saw the Cribs at The Astoria. Did a bit of a crawl before, taking in Bradleys where there was a youngish attractive crowd in the downstairs bar. The place is a Spainish bar and I had a very nice pint of Bitburger although a bit pricey at £3.30, especially as previously I had gone into two Samuel Smiths places where they manage to still have Alpine Lager under £2! I followed Bradleys by my first visit to the new ‘Intrepid Fox’. London’s pub for metallers has moved to the old Conservatory pub behind Denmark Street. This place had two very attractive, tatooed rock chicks behind the bar, once of which continued to dance to each of the rock tracks being played. The pub is much more airy than some pubs and although it was fairly quiet it gets my nod of approval.
The Cribs came on at half nine and did an hour twenty. They introduced theirselves as ‘We’re The Cribs From Wakefield’ in a horrible northern accent which doesn’t do them any favours. The set was most of their new album although the crowds reactions were more positive for the old songs such as Martell and Mirror Kisses. This is understandable as the latest album is only a week old and probably not familiar to everyone, however it also isn’t as catchy as their earlier work and as such suffers. The acoustic Shoot The Poets was played near the end of the set and was lost on most people in the venue. Still they ended with a singalong in the shape of ‘Wrong Way To Be’ from their very good ‘New Fellas’ album. No encores which is what a lot of modern bands like. As to the audience, I did feel quite old. I would say mainly teenagers and at least a 50/50 male to female ratio. Whether that is a lasting audience you don’t know, and as such the band need to keep the quality for future to ensure they can sell out places such as the Astoria. Set list below;
'MTV' 'Hey Scenesters!' 'Our Bovine Public' 'You're Gonna Lose Us' 'Girls Like Mystery' 'I'm A Realist' 'Moving Pictures' 'I'm Alright Me' 'I've Tried Everything' 'Women's Needs' 'Martell' 'Men's Needs' 'My Life Flashed Before My Eyes' 'We Can Longer Cheat You' 'Mirror Kisses' 'Another Number' 'Ancient History' 'Shoot The Poets' 'Wrong Way To Be'

Bank Holiday Monday was watch sport in the pub day. Went to the Old Bank to watch the Championship Play-Off, where Derby were victorious. I said previously that Derby were an awful side to watch and this ‘show piece’ did nothing to alter my mind. Hoof the ball forward and kick the opposition when you don’t have it. It was an unsurprising 1-0 to them, with West Brom clearly playing the better football when not being kicked. Still we don’t have to play them again next season, or hopefully the season after when they come straight back down scoring fewer goals than Man City this year, and us hopefully going straight up. A bonus in the pub was a nice smile from the attractive O’Neills barmaid who was drinking there with a couple of friends.
After going home for some food, I go out to the Butterchurn for the Premier League Darts. Unsurprisingly Phil Taylor won convincingly over Jenkins who had a remarkable 11-10 game with Barney in the semi. At £2.55 a pint of Fosters, the Butterchurn, is my cheapest ‘local’ and is always good for sport. Bar staff are friendly and although you may get some (and I know this sounds snobby) lower class individuals in there, they keep themselves to themselves presuming only ‘larging it’, in town (possibly Croydon) at weekends.

Went down to Farncombe on Sunday, to see Jackie Lynton at the Three Lions. Took advantage of the extra day off work (to lie in) to do a bit of a crawl. The first pub was the White Hart. A large estate pub, this had several people with kids as well as a few twenty somethings dotted about. It also had a huge dog which must have been three or four foot tall whilst standing up on all fours.
The Cricketers was next. The entrance was like walking into someone’s house after walking through their front garden. This was quiet and did have three attractive girls in here, one of which was wearing the most ridiculous high heels on her boots I’ve seen for a while.
The third pub and last before going down to the venue was the Freeholders. This had a very slim, but massively endowed barmaid serving. Her low cut top obviously didn’t help matters but she did remind me of the old kerrang cartoon, Pandora Peroxide, so disproportional she was, although I don’t think she was a rock chick (nor blonde for that matter, though I seem to remember Pandora going through a goth phase). The clientele in here were mainly manuel working young men, your typical Chelsea fans of you like, although there was a quiz machine and pool table.
The last venue was The Three Lions or Scratchers as it’s sometimes known. They’ve built up a reputation for good free live music and Sunday is their blues night. The pub on its own is quite nice, with the added bonus of Oranjeboom on draught. There was also a very hot looking barmaid here too with a more sensible figure.
As to Mr Lynton, he was as you’d expect. Bluesy rocknroll with him telling a few jokes between songs. There were a few medleys of rocknroll covers, such as I Hear You Knocking going into Let’s Work Together. He also did some of his own bluesy stuff such as RocknRoll Whiskey Blues, All My Life and What Am I Living For. With no break in the middle he ended with five covers, Unchain My Heart, Matchbox going into Blue Suede Shoes, Hi Heel Sneakers, Let It Rock and the ballad, Help Me Make It Through The Night. All in all a good show for no admittance charge.