Once in a Lifetime Performance Features Special Guests including Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Steve Jones (Sex Pistols), and Tony Kanal (No Doubt) Buy Here
A spectacular special event, immortalised for the big screen; legendary punk icon, Billy Idol, makes history by playing the first ever concert in front of the world famous Hoover Dam. Kicking off his sell-out 2023 North American spring and summer tour, the once in a lifetime performance, which illuminated the surrounding Black Canyon of the Colorado River and the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, features a career-spanning run of chart-topping hits including ‘Dancing with Myself’, ‘Eyes Without a Face’, ‘Rebel Yell’ and ‘White Wedding’. One of the most recognisable faces and voices of rock’n’roll, with over 40 million album sales, and numerous platinum albums worldwide, the hell-raising rock star is joined on stage by his longtime band including his collaborator and lead guitarist of over 40 years, Steve Stevens, with special guest stars including The Kills’ Alison Mosshart, former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, and No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal.
PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT TO PLAY HEADSTOCK MENTAL HEALTH FUNDRAISER AT MANCHESTER STAR & GARTER – THE HOME OF THE IAN CURTIS MURAL
The intimate event will include a Q&A with Peter Hook plus a Joy Division set with his band
The Star & Garter is home to the stunning mural of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis
Tickets to the exclusive event will be allocated via a ticket ballot on ticketing site Skiddle
Proceeds from ticket sales will support Shout, the mental health text support charity
Music & Mental Wellbeing Festival, Headstock, has announced that Peter Hook & The Light will play a one-off mental health fundraising event on Friday 12 April 2024 at Manchester Star & Garter, one of the city’s best loved independent live music venues.
pic: Mark L Hill
Peter Hook & The Light: An Evening of Music & Conversation will see the legendary Joy Division and New Order bassist take part in a hosted Q&A to discuss his time with Joy Division as well as his close friendship with Ian Curtis. Later in the evening, Peter will be joined on stage by his band to play a Joy Division set for just 200 lucky fans.
Proceeds from this special Headstock event will go to support mental health charity Shout. The gig will also take place in memory of Ian Curtis who tragically lost his life to suicide in May 1980.
Arguably one of the most influential and pioneering bands of all time, Joy Division was a post-punk rock band formed in Salford in 1976 by Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner, with Ian Curtis and Stephen Morris joining shortly after.
This year (2023) Joy Division received an inaugural nomination into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside iconic, globally renowned artists and bands such as Kate Bush, Iron Maiden, George Michael and Rage Against The Machine.
Peter Hook & The Light have announced a special one-off event at the intimate (200 capacity) Star & Garter in Manchester on Friday 12 April 2024 to raise funds for the mental health charity Shout.
The evening will see a hosted Q&A session with the legendary Joy Division and New Order bassist and a full live set of Joy Division songs with his band. Given the limited capacity of the venue, tickets will be allocated via a ballot launched on Skiddle.
Peter Hook says: “I have campaigned for a long time for Ian and Joy Division to be commemorated anyway and anywhere possible. From the statue in Macclesfield – still ongoing – to the mural in Macclesfield, to the mural in Manchester and the upcoming one in Stockport. I will only rest when every town in Great Britain has something.
“I am immensely proud of Ian and our work as Joy Division, and to celebrate it in this way is such a pleasure. I am hoping to bring Ian’s best man at his wedding and childhood friend Kevin Briggs to join me, so fans can get a real insight into this wonderful man and artist. To play at such an iconic venue as the Star & Garter just seals the deal perfectly.”
Given the limited capacity of the venue (200) tickets will be allocated via a ballot to be launched on Skiddle from Monday 4 December 2023 at https://skiddle.com/e/37141791 and will remain open until Friday 2 February 2024. Each successful ballot entrant will be allocated two tickets to the event.
Pricing for the ticket ballot as follows:
1 x ballot entry = £10
3 x ballot entries = £15
10 x ballot entries = £20
Money raised via the ticket ballot will go to support Shout’s free and confidential 24/7 text messaging support service for anyone who is struggling to cope.
Atheer Al-Salim, founder of Headstock, said: “We are so grateful to Peter Hook and his band who are giving up their time and talent to help us raise much needed funds to support our charity partner Shout and their life-saving text support service. The evening promises to be a poignant moment for Manchester, and an event of huge musical and cultural significance for the city.”
Victoria Hornby, CEO of Shout, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to Peter Hook & The Light and Headstock for putting on this very special event which will raise vital funds for us to keep the Shout text messaging support service running 24/7. Our volunteers take up to 2,000 conversations with children, young people and adults in urgent need of mental health support every day, and every £10 raised funds a conversation that could save a life.”
The Grade II listed Star & Garter is home to the recently reinstated mural of Peter Hook’s former Joy Division bandmate Ian Curtis, which was unveiled ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day in September 2023. The event at the Star & Garter – which has also hosted bands such as Courteeners, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes and Bring Me The Horizon – is taking place seven months after the stunning mural of Ian Curtis was completed by renowned Manchester street artist Akse.
The mural is based on a photograph of Ian Curtis taken by Belgian photographer Phillipe Carly and depicts the Joy Division front man shortly before the release of the band’s second album, Closer, and on the eve of their first North American tour.
ABOUT HEADSTOCK: Headstock is a Manchester-based social enterprise that works to create music-led solutions to raise money and awareness for mental health charities. Through the power of music and shared experiences, their goal is to create change by changing the conversation around mental health. Headstock launched in October 2019 and was initially set up as a direct response to the disproportionate level of mental health issues across greater Manchester and the North West.
ABOUT SHOUT 85258: Shout is the UK’s first and only free and confidential 24/7 text messaging support service for anyone who is struggling to cope. Shout launched publicly in May 2019 and has since had more than 1.7 million conversations with people who are anxious, stressed, depressed, suicidal or overwhelmed and who need in-the-moment support. As a digital service, Shout became increasingly critical during Covid-19, being one of the few mental health support services able to operate as normal at that time.
It’s not often I get excited about hearing a new album these days so cynical and jaded one can often feel when hearing so much new music (and old) but I did get a little flutter of the pulse when I saw that The Loveless had actually completed a full album of material and pre-sales were available through the Cadiz website. so as the saying goes a fool can often be parted with their money and I clicked the purchase button.
The band has previously released two very limited edition EPs which feature some of the songs featured on this thirteen-track album. The album kicks off in a raunchy style with an original composition ‘Wild In The Streets’ and their credentials are laid bare and the cards are on the table. X has form and once played with punks legendry icon Stiv Bator before his untimely death but will be most known for being an integral member of 80s punks Sigue Sigue Sputnik as well as playing with Adam Ant. It should also come as no surprise that Almond has a history of post-punk even when his pop career took off as the vocalist for Soft Cell but this Bowie, Iggy & Reid-influenced garage rock adventure is a fresh and vibrant romp through the late 60s and 70s garage rock genre from the covers they take ownership of and the original songs they insert through this love letter to good time underground Garage/glam rock.
‘Wild In The Streets’ is the perfect uptempo opener and showcasing Almond and X’s songwriting and their love of some loud, raw guitars and all things sleazy Rock n Roll. ‘Putty In Your Hands’ is a groovy bubblegum blowing hypnotic slice of Rock n Roll. It’s the zipped up, collars-turned-up leather jacket we all wish we could pull off whilst leaning on the jukebox whilst chewing on a lucky strike, no filter of course. There’s more to these cats than just being a covers band, to be fair even if they were they’re one formidable and cool covers band. Having Iggy’s rhythm section along for the ride adds yet more authenticity and throw a guest appearance from Glen Matlock on ‘Pills’ and you have a covers band that knows a thing or two about garage punk n roll and they are cooking on gas and we’re only halfway through side one.
Their take on The Sorrows ‘Take A Heart’ perfectly suits Almond’s vocal style and to be fair running through The Kinks ‘I’m Not Like Anybody Else’ is a smokey and exceptional take and rather than going for a better know song from the Davies catalogue they’ve chosen well. The last track on side one is the smouldering slow burner ‘Dark Side’ that suits Almond’s crooner persona but the beauty is in the guitar breaks that pepper the track like shooting stars in a misty evening sky lighting up everything beneath it showcasing a band who are right on the money and in love with what they do adding authenticity and star quality to a fantastic side of music.
Flipping it over side two begins with another Almond and Neil X composition ‘Nothing At All’ and then a few cover tracks the first culled from their previously released EP ‘Hot Hard & Ready’ before chasing through another Alice Cooper band track the fantastic ‘Under My Wheels’ but then they delve into the 13th Floor Elevator Roky Erickson track ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’ again pure garage rock goldust. In a moment of clarity and pardon my ignorance, but, the trippy take of ‘Shape Of Things To Come’ ties it all together in a homer moment because the original is from this fictional band Max Frost and the Troopers taken from the movie ‘Wild In The Streets’. There you go for anyone else (like me) who might be a bit slow on the intake. which only leaves ‘I’ll Be Gone’ and we’re out of here and a thoroughly enjoyable and authentic record is done and dusted and their love of the music shines through and infects anyone within listening distance of the speakers. What a way to draw 2023 to a close than with a really enjoyable Rock n Roll record that makes me warm and happy whilst a tip of the hat to the past and fist bump to the future we should never forget where we’ve come from and thanks to records like this we won’t – to the songwriters they’ve chosen to represent so well and who helped shape this record I thank because The Loveless just became my Christmas party album for 2023. Buy It!
Album number three for these North American synth punks or should that be punx? Taking advantage of the pandemic to strengthen their numbers from three to four. Heavy on the power pop and expanding the sound Autogramm embrace the old wave New Wave if you know what I mean. Sure it’s tubeway army for the 21st century mixed in with a healthy dose of Buggles and The Cars. But let’s not forget these guys come from the punk rock backwaters and that grounding has served them well as they’ve taken the attitude into the modern age and embraced different instruments and how punk rock can be played. they once released ‘No Rules’ and they certainly apply that to their music. Instead of being tied to one style of post-punk or another, they embrace it all and turn it into something clearly defined as Autogramm.
The album opens with the 80s synth-pop of ‘Born Losers’ that breaks out into a real 80s crowd pleaser and is unashamedly dripping with pop played with guitars and synths and nailing their flag to the mast of the jocks target in high school but the chicks know these cats got the cream. The first single is the excellent ‘WannaBe’ with its barking synth guitar throb championing being who or whatever you want to be and as the song twists and turns from the sparse bass throb to the lush harmonies it is a real earworm and one I highly recommend playing at volume. Man, there are moments on this record that take me back to when Gary Numan was the real deal with his pencil leather tie and the synth run on ‘Why Do We Dance’ leads us into one of those Devo meets Cars tunes. Robotic and cool but with some snot on their sleeves and a bit of edge in the vocal delivery.
One thing I get the more I play the record is how good it makes me feel. I love the guitar chops on ‘Love Is For Fools’ It’s such a ray of sunshine and it’s infectious stuff. ‘Plastic Punx’ was one of the videos that was released before the album came out and it’s an energetic romp through synth punk rock so don your funky shades curl your lip up and let’s pogo. I love the retro new wave of ‘Yesterday’ it reminds me of the Teardrop Explodes.
After me championing the upbeat, lucky nature of this album ‘Always Gonna Be My Girl’ is a mellow moment with sparse arrangement and the last song of the disco when you grab your girl and cheek to cheek you slow dance before she has to go home. To close off the record we take another gear shift with the more punchy ‘Dive Right In’ It’s like they’ve emerged from hibernation switched on the Commodore 64 watched a rerun of Back to the Future and written some new wave tunes looking forward to a brighter future and with this, in the cassette deck the future is so bright I have to wear shades. I know it Autogramm knows it and now you know it. Don’t delay get in it, this is music that humans have played and they’re just like me and you and if you’re here you probably also have exquisite taste so get over to Beluga if you are this side of the pond and Stomp if you’re stateside. Great Scott get back to the future kids and get some Autogramm, like yesterday you’ll enjoy it.
Forming in 2018 – Guitarist Pete Greenway, drummer Keiron Melling and bassist Dave Spurr, formerly known as the last and longest serving line up of The Fall, were invited by Damo Sazuki to join him as “Sound Carriers” for a one-off performance at the White hotel in Salford. Rekindling their necessity for music, they set about searching for a vocalist. After a chance encounter at a pub in Colne and a lengthy conversation about the future of Imperial Wax, they decided to team up with Sam Curran, guitarist and vocalist from Leeds based punk band Black Pudding. Once Dave decided to leave the band in 2019 the obvious choice was to recruit another former black puddinger Shane Standrill on Bass
‘Less I Need’ is the first single from Imperial Wax’s forthcoming second album ‘Tranquilliser’. It’s a 4-minute post punk garage barrage, constantly changing keys and charging up into a furious krautrock barnstormer.
“Less I need was the first song written for the new album,” explains guitarist and vocalist Sam Curran. “The initial intention for the song was to simplify our writing format and concentrate more on one solid foundational groove and build upon that, rather than overloading the song with different parts, which in the end evidently went out the window. It was (drummer) Keiron’s idea to constantly change keys, which worked really well. It gave the song much more drive and purpose. The key changes were not planned out and probably technically incorrect to a trained musical ear. Wherever the hand landed on the guitar neck was where the key change went, which helped create that jarring unpredictable nature to the song.
“The actual chorus and eventual title of the song came as a total accident. I couldn’t come up anything good for the chorus, so while playing song with the band I just sang gobbledygook whenever it got to that part. That gobbledygook eventually refined itself and started sounding like words but was never anything proper. When recording the demos and listening back someone asked ‘what do you say during the chorus? Is it less I need?’ I said, It is now.”
As the pandemic ground the country to a halt, Keiron and Sam set about brewing the beginnings of the follow up to their 2019 debut, ‘Gastwerk Saboteurs’. In stark contrast to the writing style of their debut, where the songs were created all together, written and recorded in the same day. The bare skeleton of ‘Tranquilliser’ was written mainly as a two piece amidst the lockdown. Pete and Dave eventually adding their own parts later but overall allowing the band much more time to craft the songs into a cohesive, well-rehearsed, studio budget friendly collection of tracks. The forced contemplation of excess time gave an approach which was totally unfamiliar to what they were used to and naturally cultivated a more complex style of song, meaning more parts, more changes and less playing off of other band members. After Dave’s departure former Black Pudding bass player Shane Standrill stepped up to the oche, bringing with him a different playing style and thus changing the sound of the band even further. Dave had already laid the groundwork for the whole album, but after the failed first lot of recordings at their own practice space in Lancashire and with Shane’s new take on Dave’s parts, the band decided to go and re-record the whole thing properly at HOHM Studios in Bradford. Sam found himself working in a chateau in the south of France, who was also in the midst of a lockdown. Allowing him a plethora of time and solitude to begin writing lyrics. There wasn’t much else to do in the evenings except read and write. Not many opportunities can provide such an uninterrupted environment to immerse yourself in the writing process, which was something Sam took full advantage of. Inspired by the works of Joseph Conrad, William Burroughs, Herni Cherrier, Mashima, Olga Tokarschuk and many more. The main problem for any small band always boils down to money and that was certainly the case with Imperial Wax, so after a few failed label offers the band looked into releasing the album themselves. Upon realising the potential of having total control over your own release, the only problem was that no one had a clue what they were doing, hence the name Guesswork Records. It was a venture Keiron had long been keen on since his time in the Fall, after he and Mark had planned their own label which ultimately never came into fruition with MES’s untimely demise. Another unexpected blow was finding out that Pete had contracted the dreaded long covid. The band held out for a long time hoping that Pete would start showing signs of improvement which unfortunately never came and is still up in the air to this day. No doubt he will back in the saddle eventually but for now Imperial Wax have enlisted former Cabbage guitarist Joe Martin. After the fairly public collapse of cabbage along with his own personal struggles it was a case of right place and right time when Keiron bumped into Joe in Colne. They needed a guitarist and Joe filled that requirement. Along with the very recent addition of former the Fall/PJ Harvey bassist Ding, who has taken up the role of synth, Imperial Wax are well armed to take on many more year’s future musical ventures. FOLLOW IMPERIAL WAX SPOTIFY | BANDCAMP | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK
Fond of all things yuletide at Damaged Goods HQ, having released a fabulous collection of Christmas records over the years, even if they do say so themselves! This one is up there with the best of them and is sure to sell out quickly!
The Sensible Gray Cells are Captain Sensible (The Damned) on guitar/vocals, Paul Gray (The Damned) on bass/vocals, with Marty Love (Johnny Moped) on drums.
Join with them in celebrating all things that are daft and frustrating about the festive season. The band’s Xmas ditty ‘A Stupid Xmas’ captures everything you love to hate about this special time of year. It also has the catchiest chorus since Slade and Wizzard ruled the charts! AND wait till you see the video!
So, if you’re bored with watching endless repeats of Morecombe & Wise, or on the other channel Nigel Farage scoffing bugs on ‘I’m A Celebrity..’ and maybe fancy a crack at trying to solve a real, modern day ‘whodunnit’ then flip the record over for the somewhat darker flavoured ‘B’ side ‘Keep it to Yourself’ which sees the band in full on ‘armchair detective’ mode, taking a look at the as yet still unresolved Madeleine McCann mystery.
***VINYL FANS TAKE NOTE*** A certain number of records will have a deliberate mistake hidden.. well, somewhere or other – a jolly wheeze inspired by some of those old Stiff Records ‘instant collector’s item’ mispressings. We won’t say anymore!
Dion is quite the Prolific musician this past few years with albums and tours a plenty and this new release for 2023 is ten tracks of Garage Punk rock goodness. from the opening lo-fi smash n grab of ‘Secrets’ its off to the best possible start. With a wall of distorted guitars and a sparse floor tom beat and the lofi vocals its Garage ‘Rock goodness a plenty and just what I wanted to be hearing from mr D4 and place to bury stranger guy.
As well as the In The Red Versions of the LP (Black/Red Splatter) there are very limited numbers of a LEVITATION and FUZZ CLUB RECORDS “Shockwave” splatter version.
Lunadon leans on garage rock, punk and some power pop for good measure he doesn’t venture out of his comfort zone but his comfort zone has and is on the fringe of those genres and its a style he absolutely pulls off. In fact the openning single and lead track reminds me of The Boys in the melody and delivery of the vocals.
Lots of wrestling feedback on the guitars as ‘Nikki’ unfolds It is sparse and sounds like it was conceived in an underground tunnel with a solid consistent beat. That cold detatched feel continues on ‘Diamond Sea’ as Lunadon lets his vocals walk all over the song from screams to howls to melodic proper singing its all in here like a Bowie sketchbook thats been uncovered and I do like that piano thats holding it together whils tth eguitars are wrangled with.
‘I Walk Away’ is a bruising affair coming on like a distant cousin to fuck up Jon Spenser and Gallon Drunk chaotic and beautiful all at the same time. Its pretty much the MO of ‘Systems Edge’ as it lurches from raw to eve rawer material. Its a real attack on the senses as one track smashes into the next and so on it goes. ‘Shcokwave’ is like a feral Jesus and Mary Chain cut from the 80s heyday and then ‘Grind ME Down’ staggers in like the fucked up son of the Stooges.
‘I Don’t Mind’ is like a twisted pop song that has been out all night on a bender of Ket and cheap wine. The chorus is burrowed deep into my ear and I can’t shake it off I find myself singing the words I Don’t Mind over and over and tempted to march like Jagger as the song plays in my head.
The album then plays out via the sub eight minutes of ‘Room With No View’ and gone are the areratifs of the sub one minute songs or the two minute balsts of sonic ice and the fucked up trip of ‘Room’ as the guitars are put through the ringer and get absolutely rinsed fo rthe next seven minutes its the sound of the road to hell being trodden without a care in the world as Lunadon takes this impressive record home. I like it a lot and I knew that would be the case. I’ll venture in sparingly and I know it will drag me in much like when I get anew Dead Moon record and f this is half as good then its a winner all the way. Join me and get fucked by the sonic head fuck that is ‘Systems Edge’.
+ Collapse Into Never: Placebo Live In Europe 2023 double vinyl
+ This Is What You Wanted Blu-Ray feature length concert film
+ Live From The White Room live CD
PLACEBO announces the Placebo Live box set, an extensive collection of career-spanning performances captured in Mexico, Spain, and London. Remarkably, more than 25 years into their career, the set includes the first live album that the band have ever released – Collapse Into Never: Placebo Live In Europe 2023.
Placebo Live also marks the first time that any live performances from the band have been made available on vinyl. Across the whole collection, vinyl, Blu-Ray and CD formats are catered to from three special live sets titled Collapse Into Never, This Is What You Wanted and Live From The White Room. Each was recorded in the last year and a half as the band toured the world in support of new album Never Let Me Go, playing to over 1.5 million fans in the process.
Collapse Into Never, recorded live at Low Festival in Spain, comes as a clear double-vinyl gatefold. This Is What You Wanted was recorded live in Mexico City and the extended set is included here on Blu-Ray. Live From The White Room, recorded at Studio 1 Twickenham Studios, brings seven songs from the band’s acclaimed new album Never Let Me Go to life and is presented in a softpak gatefold CD.
The box set features songs from their eponymous debut Placebo, Black Market Music, Sleeping With Ghosts, Battle For The Sun, and Loud Like Love. Their acclaimed new album Never Let Me Go – which charted in the Top 10 in 13 countries on release last year – is also well represented here, including the album’s lead single ‘Beautiful James’ which currently has over 35 million streams across platforms. Beloved fan-favourite covers like Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ and Tears For Fears’ ‘Shout’ also feature.
In 2023, one of the great live bands of the last 25 years finally gets the live album release they deserve. Placebo Live reasserts why their show continues to be the essential experience that it always has been.
A truly defining artist in the Rock pantheon, Alice Cooper changed the way that rock music sounded and looked – forever – and sold over 50 million albums along the way. His incredible career – both with the original band and as a solo artist – has seen him pushing the boundaries of what is possible, both with the music and also the truly legendary live shows. He drew together music, art and theatre and created something unique and timeless. A seminal force within the rock world, Alice Cooper is a pioneer, an icon, a profound influence on everything that followed in his wake, but first and foremost an entertainer.
Each book will be individually signed, and “Starring Alice Cooper” will come in two major editions, including a huge, very limited, A3 version complete with 3D lenticular and some surprising treasures. The book boasts many rare photos and pictures of personal items throughout, and is full of incredible personal content and surprises.
As well as the superb photography, “Starring Alice Cooper” features essays on his career from several renowned writers, including former Creem Magazine editor Jaan Uhelszki, Rock et Folk’s Jerome Soligny, Katherine Turman (co-author of “Louder Than Hell”), and an exclusive introduction penned by acclaimed author and longtime Alice fan Neil Gaiman.
A truly defining artist in the Rock pantheon, Alice Cooper changed the way that rock music sounded and looked – forever – and sold over 50 million albums along the way. His incredible career – both with the original band and as a solo artist – has seen him pushing the boundaries of what is possible, both with the music and also the truly legendary live shows. He drew together music, art and theatre and created something unique and timeless. A seminal force within the rock world, Alice Cooper is a pioneer, an icon, a profound influence on everything that followed in his wake, but first and foremost an entertainer.
With a catalogue that spans seven (!) decades, Alice Cooper’s timeless calling cards include the albums that catapulted him to superstardom with the original Alice Cooper group, like ‘School’s Out’ and ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ in the early 70s. And then, going solo, an artist that constantly evolved, creating ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’ in 1975, his first record as a solo artist, the path on which he has continued to this day, including his 1989 smash hit album ‘Trash’ – featuring the mega-hit ‘Poison.’ Alice Cooper has continued to redefine the world in which he operates. 2023 saw him return to the album charts with ‘Road,’ repeating the 2021 success of the ‘Detroit Stories’ album as well as 2017’s ‘Paranormal.’
While creating a visual and sonic template that immediately and permanently sets him apart from his peers, the ever-changing Alice Cooper defies definition. “Starring Alice Cooper” celebrates a talent, and a life, of a true one-of-a kind icon.
For many years I would tell anyone with ears that Brixton based collective Alabama 3 were one of the best live bands on the planet. Their unique brand of “sweet pretty muthafuckin’ country acid house music” and incendiary, unforgettable live shows were legendary in my circles. But I must admit a run of less than spectacular albums and a few less than professional live shows saw (me at least) lose interest a few years back. The tragic death of co-founder Jake Black (aka The Very Reverend Dr.D Wayne Love) in 2019 seemed to seal the deal that it was all over for the Alabama 3.
But then something strange happened…Alabama 3 got their mojo back! Call it triumph over adversity, a rejuvenation even, but Larry Love and the boys unified, licked their wounds and released their 13th album ‘Step 13’ in 2021. A tribute to a fallen friend, the title referred to the next phase after death as quoted by A. Ron Hubbard, and was a return to past glories.
Now in 2013, with a new album (Cold War Classics Vol 2) on the shelves and the return of vocalist Devlin Love to the live outfit, it’s time to see if Alabama 3 can still deliver the goods live.
9 o’clock sharp and Alabama 3 hit the stage at the sold out Brudenell in style to newbie ‘North Korea’. Dressed in military jacket and shades, the ever cool Larry Love commands his audience from the off. Stage right is Devlin Love, the diminutive lady with a larger than life voice. She looks even cooler in a black fur coat, figure hugging dress and stack heels. Her vocals and her stage presence gives a different dynamic to the band now that Jake is gone.
But the ghost of the Very Reverend D Wayne is all over this show and he even makes an appearance, albeit a taped one on the overly cool set highlight ‘Hypo Full Of Love (12 Step Plan)’, which is a nice touch.
The set is a great mix of old and new, enough to satiate old fans and new recruits alike. It’s a very dance orientated show, the dub heavy bass throbs from the speakers and you can’t help but move to the groove. New tunes like ‘Petronella Says’ and ‘Whacked’ sound good, I mean really good, like they are A3 classics already after just a couple of years, maybe it’s just a testament as to how strong an album ‘Step 13’ is.
The pair of singers work the crowd like pros, inciting the crowd to get on their dancing feet and sing along to the choruses.
Long time core members keyboard player The Spirit looks suitably miserable all night and Nick Reynolds is always cool, switching between harmonica, backing vocals and sax all night. Larry informs us it’s his birthday and he takes lead vocals on the song the band wrote about his great train robbing old man ‘Have You Seen Bruce Richard Reynolds’. The harmonica induced countrified blues is a killer set highlight for me from one of my favourite A3 albums.
I must admit I’ve not seen them this good in many, many years. Other highlights like the awesome ‘Up Above My Head’, the countrified ‘Hello, I’m Johnny Cash’ and the obligatory ’Woke Up This Morning’ prove that Alabama 3 have the tunes and are an underground alternative institution we should be proud of.
The welcome return of singer Devlin Love seems to be what the band needed at the right time. While no one could ever fill Jake’s cowboy boots, her bluesy, soulful vocals and presence adds sex appeal and spice to the countrified, dance tunes tonight.
Her lead vocals on ‘U Don’t Dans 2 Tekno Anymore’ are frankly stunning, she rules that stage. Encore time sees her return with an acapella ‘Mercedes Benz’ before the full band return dedicating Aslan’s ‘How Can I Protect You’ to the ailing Shane McGowan.
I’ve seen Alabama 3 a bunch of times over the past 20 years, but this show was one of the best. Larry Love and his band have redeemed themselves in my eyes and take their rightful place as one of UK’s most exciting live bands currently doing the rounds. Long may they rule.
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