Best to strike while the iron's not long been unplugged with these posts...
Last night saw your intrepid garage rock preservationists that are The False Poets play back where it all began in Chester-le-Street. Last time we played there was over 19 years ago in the youthful noise merchants that were Psychlone.
I was reflecting on how times have changed, sat outside Clems with Dean chewing on some red hot chips. In 1994 The Street was heaving Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday pretty much every week of the year. I never really liked going out too much in those awkward days of late adolescence. Being hemmed in at the back of The Queens Head with a pint of Carling as Whigfield sang her heart out over the pub speakers wasn't my idea of fun, but bloody hell! where have all the people gone?! Either The Wicket Gate and Utopia were utterly rammed or there's a lot more supermarket booze being knocked back in front of the tele by the Cestrians these days...
It's such a state of affairs that has played a part in seeing a number of pubs in Chester-le-Street putting bands on. I'd like to think I would've dug that when I were a young un. The Britannia, The Black Horse, The Market Tavern, even The Butchers Arms has put a few turns on. The Lambton Arms has been putting bands on for about a year or so. Grateful to them for giving us a chance to strut our stuff in the land where we learnt our ABCs, amongst other things.
Really good to see some friendly faces in there. First Poets gig me mam's gone to, as well! Plenty friends and family there and the locals on the whole seemed to enjoy it and weren't so deterred by the largely unfamiliar-to-them material. 9 gigs in and we've not been paid off for the night yet! Thanks to Sarah and Deb for the pics and tweets!
Here's the two sets:
Set1:
You're Gonna Miss Me
Pretty Big Mouth
(I Ain't No) Miracle Worker
Why Do I Cry?
Tell Me When
Stick or Twist
Like A Rolling Stone
My Flash On You
Nobody But Me
Gonna Make You Mine
A Girl I Know
Stomper
Primitive
All Day and All of the Night
All Night Long
Set 2:
Call the Doctor
I Can Only Give You Everything
Gloria
You Are The Way
I'm Not Like Everybody Else
The Mad Machine
Set It Free
My Little Black Egg
Codine
Did It Feel Real?
I Fought The Law (first outing)
Hey Joe
Going All The Way
Psychotic Reaction
Strychnine
Action Woman
The lads are chipping in with the backing vocals, filling out those songs that little bit extra. Pleased with the way some of the originals were going down especially A Girl I Know and Stomper always gets a good response. Appreciated the advice from Mick Dixon re sticking some more reverb on the vocals - will try that next time.
Next up is The Sun Inn at Swalwell, Friday 6th September. It's just had a brand new coat of paint and looks The Dogs!
Keep a-had!
