The Maccabees

3rd May, 2008. Concorde 2, Brighton UK. There is something naive and sweet about the Maccabees. The cute lyrics and poppy tunes probably disguise the amount of thought that has gone into making their first album. It would be easy to dismiss them as just another arty band without any real substance, such as Art Brut. But then you would be wrong. I love the album and the homemade videos and artwork. Playing a gig on their home ground and in a small venue, meant that tickets were gone before the concert was even mentioned in the Concorde newsletter. Luckily for me, a mutual friend was able to get me on the guest list. Never in my life, have I ever managed to get on a guest list and it was worth the wait to say those words to the bouncers. It made me feel like Mother Maccabee, haha. The place was packed and steaming and with three support bands, the evening started early. They all went down well, apparently everyone was mates with everyone else, but the place really took off when Orlando took to the stage. He didn't say much and often stood back from the mike to allow the crowd to sing the songs - they were word perfect of course. He seemed apologetic at playing new songs, but the crowd were putty in his hands and would have listened to anything as long as their favourites came along. Toothpaste kisses for example, was sung by predominantly shreaking, female voices. Latchmere was a riot and the set passed in a frantic buzz of jumping, screaming and community singing. I have never seen a show with a crowd that was so word perfect and above all, loud! A 10 out of 10 for the band and the crowd!
This is a link of 1 of my 4 videos on You Tube:
First Love

The Undertones

Brighton and London. According to my records I have seen the Undertones, three times, but it could well have been more. They were a favourite band of mine and seeing them live was always awesome. My first 'recorded' concert was a concert at the Hemel Hempstead Pavilion on October 3rd, 1979. My sister was living in Radlett, so all I needed was to catch the train from St Pancras and she would bring me back to London the next day. Being a poor student, I bought a ticket for the next stop, Kentish Town for 20p, and succeeded in dodging the ticket man at the other end. The venue was quite impressive. The Undertones were supported by The Photos, an English Blondie-style band who I had just seen play on the 29th of September (supporting John Cooper Clarke). I still didn't like them. The Undertones on the other hand, were terrific. Feargal Sharkey not only looked so different to anyone else I had ever seen, but he had 'that voice' too. He was so skinny and so scruffy and I have to say, unattractive. He was all over the stage and even jumped into the crowd at one point to break up a fight. The songs were all belted out in that Derry accent and the crowd couldn't get enough.
Jump to April, 23rd 1980, and I was going to see them again in Brighton. The Top Rank was sold out and packed to the rafters. When the band came on at 9.30, the place erupted. We were jumping and dancing about like madmen. Teenage Kicks, My perfect cousin, Jimmy Jimmy - we were melting in there. My favourite song that always turned me into a crazed pogoing idiot, You've got my number (why don't you use it?), was left to the end. They played until 11pm and then played 2 encores. Not bad for 2 pounds 50.
1981 and the release of another album, Positive Touch meant another year of touring. I caught them this time at the Rainbow Theatre in London on May 21st. Although I wasn't completely sold on this album, I wouldn't miss the opportunity to see the band play live. Their now legendary live shows ensured that the Rainbow was full, and despite the mix of new, slower songs with the fast punky numbers, the band effortlessly went down a storm. Feargal, just as fashionless and thin as ever, could stun the crowd to silence with his quivering voice and then whip them to a frenzy with the next song. I lost count of the number of encores. They were truly magnificent. We left for home, soaking wet, emotionally drained and with no voice left.

Young Knives

17th October, 2006. Concorde 2, Brighton. How happy was I to see that the Young Knives were playing in Brighton in the same week that I was going to be there! I quickly ordered tickets in Holland, beacuse this was going to be a sell-out. Many years ago, I had held my 18th birthday party at the Concorde together with 5 other friends. It wasn't until I had ordered the tickets that I saw that the venue has moved furthur along the seafront to another building - hence the name change to Concorde2. Duh, no return to my old birthday haunt, but to a concert held in the lobby of the lift that used to take people up from the beach to the top promenade. Interesting. The Young Knives - they have a particular 'look' of should I say style, which can best be described as a 1960's geography teacher crossed with Jarvis Cocker. They look so square that they're trendy. (The merchandise on sale included Young Knives ties!). They play wonderful punky songs with witty lyrics which are totally addictive. They came over really well in the small venue, joking around with each other and the crowd. The songs sounded great and the crowd were really rocking. People climbed up on the pillars and stood on the window sills to get a better view, or maybe to get out of the heat. It was boiling in there! The bass player 'House of Lords' was pissed but still played and sang really well. Part timer, Weekends and bleak days, the Decision - brilliant. Their single - She's attracted to - sent the crowd crazy. Everyone was singing 'You were screaming at your mum, I was punching your dad,' in the extended version of the song, with extra lines such as, punching hif f****** face in, thrown in by Henry. What a laugh. Everyone left dripping wet, with a big smile on their face. Hope they come to Holland soon!
The Young Knives

Generation X

12th April, 1978. Brighton. What can I say about Billy Idol? He was a punk rocker who was trying too hard. We couldn't really take him seriously with his peroxide hair and bike chains. He pulled the same sneer as Sid Vicious, but on him it looked ridiculous. There was an extremely rowdy crowd in the Top Rank, which seemed to consist of a lot of football supporters. Ready, steady, go - as Generation X hit the stage, Billy Idol was showered with glasses and beer. He immediately retreated, to be replaced by one of his entourage, pleading with the crowd not to throw stuff at the stage. The football chanting crowd greeted this with jeers and yet more glasses and liquid. Eventually, the not-so-hard singer sheepishly reappeared and played quite a good set, although their songs didn't really appeal to the hardcore punk fans. The football chanting contingent however appeared to enjoy it. The aggressive atmosphere meant that I watched this show from the balcony; it was a wise decision.
Generation X

Bunch of Stiffs Tour

October 19th, 1977 and a Bunch of Stiffs tour hits Brighton. (Wonderful to see the documentary on Stiff records on Channel 4 recently. ) There were really two headline acts at this show, namely Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe. But for me, these two were a little too polished. Wreckless Eric was already playing when I got there, but immediately captured my attention with his strange songs. However the other Stiffs were just pale imitations of the real star that was Ian Dury. I couldn't understand why he moved the way he did, or why he held the mike the way he did. He was so strange! What was he on? He wore a tweed jacket and cap and draped his scarves around the mike stand. We tried not to look at the veins in his neck but it was hard to look away. He was clearly older than the other Stiffs and his music was a sort of cockney alternative punk. But, he was such a fantastic performer and effortlessly captured the somewhat aggressive audience. Elvis Costello, although gawky and strange looking in his own right, failed with his music to carry on where Dury left off. This was a great evening to showcase Stiff records artists and although Costello went on to become the most commercially successful, it was Ian Dury who brought the house down in Brighton.

Stiff records