Last night the World/Inferno Friendship Society saved my live.

Have you ever had one of those days?
The sort that starts off with standing barefoot in cat puke and then rapidly goes downhill from that point onwards?
The sort where it feels like some immature malevolent god has decided that for their own perverse amusement they are going to use their omnipresent powers to ensure that everything that can go wrong will in fact go wrong?
Not just garden variety minor inconvenience wrong, but spectacular apocalyptic movie plot wrong?
One of those patience snapping and misanthropy inducing days that grinds you down so completely that by a certain point you feel physically and mentally beaten?

Well yesterday was my turn for that sort of day.

Quite literally it started off with cat puke between the toes and then there was a twelve hour shift that replicated a journey through the circles of Dantes hell.

All that was missing was a rectal probe from a pineapple.

By the time I was finished I was teetering on the edge of mentally and physically throwing the towel in.
I had reached the point of just wanting to curl up into a ball on the ground and remaining there until I'd turned to dust and the wind carried me away.

But instead I went out to see the World/Inferno Friendship Society and they saved my life.

Not literally.

There was no mouth to mouth or pads on my chest being applied with members of the band shouting 'its alive' as I twitched a finger in response to the surge of electricity that had jerked through me, but instead they figuratively saved it by offering some much needed respite from the daily grind.
A respite that allowed me to recalibrate and open myself up to accepting that the fight ain't over until some misogynist points out that a lady they consider to be outside social norms in the weight department is singing.

And for that I would have to extend my gratitude.

I am truly thankful as here they were residing in their own unique fantasy world inviting us in once again to partake in momentarily stepping away from one reality and giving us some time to frantically engage with one of their own making, and by doing so they provided the perfect antidote to fractious days and abrasive weeks.

Again mucho gracious.

For those who live in a town called ignorance let me enlighten you as to who they are, they are a travelling midsummer night's punk rock circus rolling into town that deal in sonic anarchy that's not for the faint of heart.
It's flamenco jams, off the cuff country and western meanderings, jazz, tribal beats and so much more filtered through a twisted take on cabaret and it all works.
It magnificently works.
It's a smorgasbord of aural madness that sweeps you away on the crest of its own wave.

So if that's your thing, and why wouldn't it be, or it even sounds slightly tempting then consider this as your invite for the next time they hit these shores.

You really don't want to miss them.

However to get the best from what they do those attending should take some advice.

Call it the World/Inferno Friendship Society 101 class.

Here's what the script is. 

You just need to let yourself go.
It won't hurt if you give yourself over to them.
Like the ol' time revivals it's easier to just allow the spirits to take over when they start.
Sing in tongues and dance, dance some more, and when you think your legs can't take any more then offer a prayer to St Vitus and keep dancing.
That's all you have to do.

The band will cover the rest.

And the will cover it in fine style.

If by the end of the show you aren't drenched in sweat, your heart isn't hammering fit to burst and your face isn't sore from smiling then obviously you haven't given yourself over to them and will not have received the full benefits of what they are offering.

That is your fault.

Live with it.

The band can't take any responsibility for your failure to get it.

They will have delivered on their side of the bargain.

Basically they don't want passivity from you.
They want to engage you in symbiotic madness.
To strip away the outer shell and pull a primal scream from you as they wear their hearts on their sleeves.
With these guys in your corner you can proudly proclaim fuck cardio step classes and fuck new age answers to the world's ills.
because here they are with the a fully positive distraction that will recharge your batteries and set you up for going out to fight the good fight.
And let's be brutally honest about this.
Who doesn't need that?

If they were offering this every day then I would be beating a path to their door.
Big pharma would see their profits freefall towards oblivion as people realized that to make the world a better place all they need is a daily dose of The World/Inferno Friendship Society live rather than mood altering chemicals that they have cornered the market on.*

Maybe we need to crowd source the cash to clone these beautiful fuckers so we can have them performing every single day in every single town and city.

Yeah, I've decided that the world I want to live in starts with a healthy injection of World/Inferno Friendship Society on a daily basis.

It's not obligatory that anyone else agrees, but I'm right and anyone who does disagree is wrong.

I'm sorry. You cant argue with facts.

In support were The Spencer's.
A band that sound as if they have been locked in a garage and whose only stimulation was a Kubrick directed Breaking Glass that was edited by Leigh Bowery played on a continual loop.
Not a bad thing in my book.

Equally worthy of checking out.


* Unless of course they are clinically required.
Don't stop meds without professional advice and replace them with TWIFS on my word. ;)

The World/Inferno Friendship Society.

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The Godfathers - 30th Anniversary tour - Glasgow

Anniversary tours are coming around with alarming regularity at the moment.

Most are unwelcome reminders that our own drunken teenage glory days are no longer lurking in close proximity, but rather slowly becoming lost in the mists of time and if we want to revisit them then we have to buy a ticket for the nostalgia train.

For myself I will readily admit that each time I see a poster dubbed with the word anniversary I hear a clock ticking somewhere and ask myself where all the time has went.

And I’m assured that I am not alone in thinking that.

So is life really just birth, school, work, death?

See what I did there?

That’s right ‘The Godfathers’ are doing their thirtieth anniversary tour, and with a revamped line up and a freshly released single to promote there’s a welcome refusal on their part to turn the hands on the clock back, or even hold them still.

Instead it’s a celebration of what lies behind them, what is happening in the here and now, and an invitation to join the party for future tomorrows.

So if you want to wallow in nostalgia then expect to have some of your needs met, but don’t for one second think that the band are going to look to pander to your every halcyon memory.

They will leave that to the other acts that are looking to grab fumes from what is left in the tank.

The current positive state of play within the Godfathers camp is actually all the more impressive as it was only a year ago when founding members of Peter and Chris Coyne were thrown into the deep end and had to sink or swim when both Del Bartle and Grant Nicholas walked without much notice.

That they struck out for the side of the pool and recamped the band on dry land in such a short space of time, and with the forward momentum of the band and the quality maintained, is something that fans should applaud and applaud loudly.

Lesser acts would have crashed and burned, but the brothers instead knuckled down and kept going while barely missing a step.

Now with a tour already drawing critical praise from fans and journalists alike it would seem that in hindsight the shake up was the catalyst for them to ensure that they didn’t simply start treading water.

Rather they took it as a very short watershed moment in their careers and regrouped and set out to win hearts and minds again.

The proof of how successful they have been in doing that will be on display this Saturday in Glasgow as they bring their own brand of punky R&B to the ABC.

Old and new fans are not going to be disappointed.

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Dick Valentine/Tragic City Thieves - ABC2 - Glasgow (25/05/12)

I like the unexpected.

The moment when you realize that what you think you are going to get doesn't quite transpire, and instead it's a whole new ballgame.

I would happily exist in that moment, that exact second when peoples preconceived ideas are bitch slapped to tears.

In a list of personal motto's I suspect that 'dash my expectations motherfucker. I dare you.' would rank quite high.

So when Tragic City Thieves took to the stage, in support of Electric 6's Dick Valentine in the ABC2, and began an acoustic set the shivers ran up and down my spine as I was caught completely unaware.

This was not what glam trash terrorists should sound like.

Instead of thrashing the songs out acoustically the band have reworked them completely, and while they are recognisable as the originals its very obvious these beasts have a thumping heart all of their own.

Each song is the bastard offspring of what has come before.

In the space of one track being played a whole world of new opportunities opened up for them.

In the future they needn't feel constrained to playing electric sets as acoustically they are just as fantastic a band.

The guitar work from Stu seemed effortlessly organic. On each song he provided the perfect balance of flourishes and at times there was a definite cinematic feel to it all.

If pushed I could probably write a thousand word essay on how impressed I was with his ability to paint an aural picture over every song, but I could equally do the same for both Jim and CJ.

Jim's use of an acoustic bass instead of an electric, as I so often see being played in acoustic sets, gave everything a warm and authentic feel, while CJ's vocals allowed us all to appreciate his abilities as lyricist with his delivery of the songs.

In less than a week I have seen these guys play two completely different sets, and both have cemented in my opinion that no one comes close to touching what they do here in Scotland.

If this band fail to make an impact on a much larger scale then I would forever use them as an example of how talent and passion does not necessary equate to success, and that's just wrong.

If you have it, then you should reap the rewards. Simple as that, and these guys have got it in spades.

So how does Dick Valentine follow that?

Well quite easily truth be told.

Even without the pizazz that Electric 6 have, Dick on his own still commands attention.

He doesn't even really have to do much to draw the eye to him.

It seems to be that he naturally has a quality about him that has a presence on stage.

When he ambles on he could be a roadie, but no one pays much attention to roadies while every eye in the house is on Dick plugging his guitar in.

Avoiding the big entrance he steps up and shakes hands and chats with fans before getting down to the business it hand.

This isn't really what people expect from a headlining act from the US playing a show, but Dick could never be accused of following the herd. .

For all intents and purposes this is actually less of a gig as we know it, and more an artists communing with his fans on a very basic level.

From the beginning to the end it's all very relaxed with the between song banter akin to friends just shooting the shit.

I like it.

There's a real warmth in the room, and he's more than deserving of the reaction he gets when he does start in on the opening song of the evening.

Part of the appreciation may come from the audience knowing that this is a real solo tour to.

It's quite literally one man, a guitar, a bag full of CDs and a train ticket.

It's not a new concept and bands have been doing it forever, but the pioneering spirit of globe-trotting with a bag full of songs and little else is one that I find alluring, and I suspect others do to.

It's got an appeal to it.

No doubt their will be hardships along the way, long hours filled with mundane shit, and nights where he is so bored sitting alone in a hotel room that he may succumb to masturbating himself close to death just to fill the time, but they will hopefully fall short of shadowing the good times.

Let's be honest here and admit that travelling the world, experiencing new adventures on a daily basis, and entertaining people at night with a song is something that most of us would love to do, and here he is doing it.

The wandering troubadour aspect is tantalizing isn't it?

Anyway, the gig, yeah, the gig.

An easy raconteur Dick happily lefts Electric 6 at the door and mainly concentrated on the material from his solo album 'Destroy the Children'.

His run through of the songs illustrates that he is a songwriter of no little talent, and while some have dismissed his humorous approach to a song as on par with a low rent Tenacious D I would strongly disagree, and instead firmly push the argument that managing to insert some fun into a song doesn't make it comedic.

When you listen to him there's plenty of darkness alongside the sunshine and you would be pushed to name someone else who can deliver it so well.

He provides the audience with plenty of proof of this.

Songs like Mr Shadow and I Don't Speak French had me standing there trying to get the smile on my face under control before the muscles on my face had a mishap.

Brilliant material and it stand up alongside the best he has written throughout his career

Even the surprise inclusion in the set of Keane's 'Everybody's Changing' wasn't enough to derail the experience for me as it was quite frankly better than the original.

The gig was one that flew past.

A sure sign that it was an enjoyable one, and I'm pretty sure that everyone there will have been as equally impressed as I was and will be sure to acquire an Electric 6 ticket for November.

Maybe the full on Electric 6 gig could have the full on Tragic City Thieves in support.

Now that would be a gig that would require the ABC to check that the insurance for their roof is covered for acts of rock that could leave it blown off.

Highlight of the year may be a Glaswegian crowd chanting WE WANT DICK, WE WANT DICK, with no shame or explanation offered.
We should have taken the chant out on the street after the show and continued it long into the night.