Feels like ages since I did anything for the blog, and that's probably because it is.Now here I am trying to dredge something up to say about the The Answer/The Union gig I was at.
So don't expect anything special.
In fact never expect anything special from the blog and it will avoid future disappointments.
Right. Buckle in as I dip my toe back in.
As far as I recall it was the usually drink heavy affair as expected when out with Hickey and Bolland.
Socializing with them should have a government health warning attached.
We managed to sink a few before we caught the train and then another in King Tuts where I scored some Alabama Shakes tickets before finally entering the Garage just in time to catch The Union taking to the stage.
Between them the bands had pulled a very respectable sized audience and the place was heaving with middle aged rock fans.
The Union delivered on all counts with Luke Morley leaving his Thunder days in the dust.
While Thunder had their many fans it's with The Union that he seems more at home.
You get the feeling that music has been allowed to breath more freely.
Much of the credit for this must go to the counter play between Lukes guitar and vocal talents of Peter Shoulder who manages to evoke the spirit of the classic rock front-man.
You can tick off all the boxes.
He has that swaggering soulful blues that UK rockers have always excelled in.
There's some Paul Rodgers in parts, and some recognisable David Coverdale from his early Whitesnake days rather than the era when the US and their poodle perms drew him to the dark side.
All good stuff to my ears.
He talks the talk and walks the walk and while The Union aren't really a band that I would often find myself drawn to I was freely impressed with them.
Shame about the crowd though.
Making a trip to the toilets was a nightmare as it would seem that quite a few people obviously considered that their ticket was for a specific square foot and no one, and I mean no one, would be allowed to budge them for it.
I've never been at a gig where people were so territorial about their space.
My polite requests to 'excuse me' fell on deaf ears and when I tried to squeeze past then sharp elbows were used to impede my progress.
As I tried to circumnavigate one large woman, who had a face that looked as if it had been left too near the fire, and a fake tan the colour of hangover piss, I barely brushed against the huge bag she had with her and was met with a growled 'oh for fucks sake'.
Her partner looked as if he wanted to kill me, but refrained from doing so as he would have had to relinquish his space to swing a punch.
I thought it was just me, but on my return to the Hickey and Bolland they both expressed similar opinions.
Very strange.
Anyway The Answer were next and I was sort of on the fence about them prior to seeing them live.
They were one of those bands that gets filed away as pretty good, but don't really grab your attention.
However the live version of the band is a a whole different story.
If there's one band who can fly the flag for modern rock music without all the grunge whistles and bells or the nu-metal angle then it is these guys.
It's no frills rock and roll delivered with passion and energy.
Pretty much a timeless sound that when done right doesn't go out of fashion.
If I was wearing a hat then I would doff it to them.
So all in some great music, some great company and a crowd that I didn't really feel any connection with.
Two out of three aint bad I suppose.
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