GIGS IN JUNE 2007

THE GOLOWAN FESTIVAL, PENZANCE (23RD JUNE)

What a difference a year makes, last year`s festival was all MEB, Marvins, NPBs and Bates and this year ...well no-one actually except for the mighty William Gregg and a no show from The Boycott Boys, (`how appropriate!` said the compare before vanishing into the crowd, obviously bored with the whole thing himself).

This year`s Golowan Festival Marquee line up appeared to be completely made up of children from The Humphry Davy School for mildly musical children. I endured tuneless songs sung badly by Disturbing the Flow (disturbing - yes), followed by an extremely bad version of Hound Dog by Louis and Kirk, (who were actually quite tuneful, if not visually boring, when playing some jazz keyboards together earlier) and some off-tune cover versions by a sister duo called Bonnie and Mica Smith who were described in the programme as `mellow`, (but that`s debatable).

And then finally, like a professional surrounded by idiots, came William Gregg. Thank the heavens above for talent at last! Will`s set was way too short and can be better appreciated at the end of a day in an atmosphere of warmth and intimacy. Unfortunately a windy tent on a seafront in the middle of a Saturday afternoon, right next to a fun fair at full pelt with a passing audience of children and parents did nothing to help. But for the one`s who were listening, his solo set was beautiful and tender, quiet and moving, (I swear he gets better everytime I hear something new from Mr.Gregg). At the end of his set of Cornish/World music Will brought out a guest singer in the shape of Cath Crowe and what a finale they produced together. Her presence seemed to light a fire in Will and he fairly danced across the stage whilst accompanying her beautiful and lively vocals.

At last the stage was set for a good gig...

...at which point the compare came to tell us that the next act, the Boycott Boys, hadn`t turned up and some other rubbish that he obviously thought was funny and entertaining.

Oh dear.

Then he did the most sensible thing and buggered off.

Eventually some tiny kids were ushered on stage holding instruments made for giants.

It was The Basics, (above), a three piece band from the H.D. School, but with one fundamental difference - they were fucking great!

Full of attitude, "Hey we`re The Basics and we`re from Humphry Davy School ...and we`re PROUD!" shouted the guitarist as he kicked some serious butt with the band`s first song. All of their material appeared to be original and bloody good. It was tuneful, catchy and performed with an attitude that belied their ages (around 13 apparently), with panache and dignity. Absolutely stunning!

The stage was a shambles after that; random acts seemed to wander on, perform a song and then wander off. One such pair was The Wondering Minstrels, (above), who should`ve been more `wandering` and less `wondering`, because they were rubbish. When the finale came to their blissfully short set in the form of Hallelujah by Lenny Cohen, there really was little contact with reality from where I was standing.

Next came another act to fill the gaps that this sinking ship seemed to be springing at an alarming rate. Apparently it was a couple of The Boycott Boys, (above), better late than never, but they were lively and sang in tune so that was a bonus for everyone. I think the singer in particular, had good stage presence and was clearly at home up there chatting and playing to the crowd.

When they had finished I could take no more and as The Wondering Minstrels returned to the stage with some mates and a different name, `Sounds Better in Red `, (better dead than red frankly!), I had to leave.

I blame the bloody X-Factor for this kind of crap - everybody thinks they`re talented and oh-so-bloody entertaining, but in fact as this afternoon proved, (with the odd exception), it is just not the case. The only good thing you can say about this year`s Golowan Festival gig is that it only cost a quid to get in.

(Photos by Lord Itchfield)

www.myspace.com/williamgregg

THE SAWLES ARMS, ST.AUSTELL (17TH JUNE)

CHRIS BUNT AND MIKE DAVIES

We gathered to celebrate the landlady`s 21st birthday again at the Sawles Arms pub in St.Austell on what turned out to be a dodgy weather-beaten event.

A pig roast had been started at 6am and so was nearly ready when we turned up at 4pm to watch Chris and Mike run through some warm Sunday afternoon rock classics. You`ll probably know Chris Bunt from his many years with No Picnic, but this is something new and less aggressively rawk.

A covers duo, (but not a tribute to anyone in particular thankyou), with many years under their respective belts in the local bands that have graced most of the pubs in Cornwall, these two craftsmen know how to conjure up a memory and perfomed beautifully. Amongst the many varied artists sensitively performed were REM, The Moody Blues and The Verve with excellent lead vocals from Mike.

This was a family friendly event with many youngsters running amok throughout the performance, but this also meant the audience was possibly the hardest for a band - from babies to OAPs and many lesser artists would`ve baulked at the prospect.

Just to help the pair, the pig roast had been set up next to them (good for that stage fog that goes so well with rock gigs!) and then the rain came down (cue more smoke from the roast as the pig burnt to a crisp!).

Worth seeking out if you want to see a polished performance with excellent lead guitar from yer man, Mr.Bunt.

(Photos By Lord Itchfield)

THE QUEENS HEAD, ST.AUSTELL (16TH JUNE)

THE SEX BRISTOLS

Another punk covers band playing in another Cornish pub. Nothing to see here, ladies and gentleman, move along now please...

Well yes and no really.


This band of middle aged punk rockers, (all old enough to know better), are actually quite entertaining and true to the genre. Led by the beret wearing Mike Riot, the band hammer through some Sex Pistols covers and then start to show their form by branching out on other classic punk tracks. All the versions that they played were musically true to the originals, the singing less so, but when you are covering so many varying vocal styles its probably wiser to just stick to your own, (which is what Mike did).


The guitar of Dicky Strings was spot on to the records, as was the bass and drums of Gary Nasty and Anarchy Chaff, (ooo, comedy names ahoy!). Visually they were nothing like The Pistols, but the did sound very similar and did a sterling job of playing the other collection of tracks that included nods to the catalogues of The Buzzcocks, The Ramones and The Clash amongst others.


So yes they`re from Bristol, yes they are banned from a couple of other local pubs for rowdy behaviour (well I never!), and yes they`re not very original. But they do a damn fine job when it comes to punk covers and sticking to the performance.


The only problem I have with covers bands is that they are all clearly good musicians, so why don`t they write something new and take the styles of music forward? Its like a formula one racing driver who refuses to drive anywhere off the track - what a waste of talent.


The Sex Bristols - good but predictable.

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With trepidation we wandered to the pub

To see a covers band, ah yeah, there`s the rub

A punk band called The Sex Bristols were down

Old men stuck in 78 were sitting all around.

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The Bristols started up with vim and vigour

The pub soon got full - it needed to be bigger

So we sat in a corner with our beer and tried to listen

The music was so loud, but something was missing.

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The original artists, thats what was absent

Then I needed some air so to the bogs I went

It was there that I finally came to a conclusion

This band and audience are living an illusion.

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I prefer reality when I hear a song

Pretension and pretending can only be wrong

So if I want covers I`ll look to my bed

And to all these bands - I wish you dead.

http://www.sexbristols.co.uk/