{"id":7508,"date":"2019-08-19T05:00:04","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T05:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=7508"},"modified":"2019-08-15T14:17:57","modified_gmt":"2019-08-15T14:17:57","slug":"the-professor-and-the-madman-live-at-the-100-club-self-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=7508","title":{"rendered":"The Professor and the Madman \u2013 Live at the 100 Club (Self Release)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Professor and the Madman aren\u2019t household names in the Punk Rock, Power Pop fraternity, although they should be. Not just because former Damned drummer Rat Scabies has played on all three of the band\u2019s studio albums or for the latest \u201cDisintegrate Me\u201d.\u00a0 Rat\u2019s bass playing former colleague Paul Gray lends his considerable talent to it, but because the mainstays of Alfie Agnew and Sean Elliot have just as much Punk cred, having been in the likes of D.I. and The Adolescents and exuded more DIY ethos than both Wickes and B&Q combined.<\/p>\n

The birth of this live album deserves a whole section dedicated it itself; publishing approval, Art(?) Work(??) copyright issues, Pressing problems and almost the final nail in the coffin PledgeMusic that had the band putting their hands in their own pockets to fulfill the orders, but enough of the back story let\u2019s get down to the nitty-gritty of The Professor and the Mad Man live at the 100 Club album.<\/p>\n

The album was recorded just over a year ago at, obviously, the legendary 100 Club in Oxford Street where Messers Gray and Scabies would be playing together live, something that they hadn\u2019t done since July 1992 when the Damned were either departing or reforming. The twelve tracks that make up this 50 minute album span the bands 3 album career to date with \u201cPeace Bombs\u201d from the \u201cElixir II \u2013 Election\u201d album leading straight into a cover of US Power Pop band 20\/20\u2019s \u201cNuclear Boy\u201d and then \u201cNightmare\u201d that had me thinking that the band have arranged the setlist as some sort of post-apocalyptic concept. It\u2019s almost as if this live album should\u2019ve been a studio one, no doubt to thanks to various Streaming Services it can be. Even the cover of Eddie and the Hot Rods \u201cQuit This Town\u201d, that features a guest appearance from former Hot Rods guitarist Graeme Douglas, lends weight to this. Either that or this is The Professor and the Mad Man\u2019s stab at their own version of The Monkees \u201cHead\u201d soundtrack done live; brilliantly off the rails but bang on the money. The production is super well balanced; you can hear everybody and everything, no one is too loud or understated. The only thing missing is the crowd appreciation and reaction between songs, until \u201cQuit This Town\u201d, where it springs into life, before mysteriously receding into the background; I was at the gig and remember the crowd to have been on the lively, boisterous side with a lot more stories and antidotes between songs (Adam Ant) and I\u2019m sure \u201cElectroconvulsive Therapy\u201d was the penultimate track and not, as on the CD, the last. Maybe that\u2019s why it fades out?<\/p>\n

Overall, it\u2019s a great snapshot of something special that at the time was billed as \u201cFor One Night Only\u201d. However, with Alfie, Sean, Paul and Rat working on new material I hope to see \u201cA Welcome Return\u201d sometime next year.<\/p>\n

Author: Armitage Smith<\/p>\n

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