Brian James - R.I.P. The Damned and Lords of The New Church Guitarist 18th February 1955-6th March 2025

Brian at the Retro Bar (with TexasTerri & Rat Scabies)

Such sad news about the passing of Brian James, I was too young to have seen him when he was first in The Damned, I was from the "Machine Gun Etiquette" and "Black Album" era but of course loved the first two LPs, particularly the raw power of the debut "Damned Damned Damned" and classic singles "New Rose" and "Neat Neat Neat". His visceral guitar sound was like nothing else, instantly recognisable and unique. Like many young bands starting out, we had a bash at a cover version of "New Rose" at our first ever gig back in 1981 and I still have the TDK D-90 cassette recording of the show to this day - however, it's better to be looked at and reminisced about rather than listened too! Lords of The New Church were more of my time and their debut album is a classic, they were a great live band too, Brian happily blasting away at the guitar while frontman Stiv Bators took the limelight. I also saw Brian play at various small gigs over the years, such as the Lenny Kaye Nuggets show at the 100 Club last year, the Retro Bar with Rat and TexasTerri (one of the loudest shows I've ever been too) in 2012 and the fantastic night at the Troubadour to celebrate the launch of his official biography by John Wombat, in 2019, which you can read about in our feature here. I was also chuffed to have caught him at the Hammersmith Apollo for The Damned's reunion in 2022, he did a sterling job despite not being in the best of health and it was a joy to hear all those early songs with Brian's trademark guitar sound. R.I.P. Brian James. Here are a few photographic and video memories...

At the Troubadour biography launch party

Our first gig 1981 with "New Rose" attempt (note Jeff's Damned T-shirt)

Some of my old Lords of The New Church gig tickets

With Rat and TexasTerri at the Retro Bar

The Damned original line-up reunion Hammersmith Apollo

Brian with TexasTerri and Rat at the Retro Bar

The Troubadour

Lenny Kaye & Friends play Nuggets at The 100 Club London, Thursday April 4th 2024

Lenny Kaye with Marty Love on drums

Lenny Kaye, the New York based musical historian, journalist, author and of course, guitarist with the Patti Smith Group for an impressive 50 years, has another equally impressive entry on his CV, and that’s as the compiler of what must be one of the most influential albums of all time. "Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968" released on Elektra Records in 1972, was Lenny’s painstaking labour of love, a compilation of obscure 60's American Garage Rock and Psych bands. Often these teen trash bands were one local hit wonders that might have only just made it out from their garage rehearsal to a nearby recording studio or High School gig before disappearing from view for good. However, some of the featured bands would end up clicking with lovers of raw power Rock ‘n Roll for generations to follow. The Seeds, The Sonics and The Music Machine to name but three, inspired countless Garage Punk bands all over the world. The influence of the California based Love in particular, would resonant hugely with the city of Liverpool, not just back in the 80’s with Liverpudlian Post Punk bands such as Echo & The Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes but on into the 90’s when songwriting genius Mick Head’s Shack ended up as Arthur Lee’s backing band on his UK tour and then later still with local bands such as The Coral. Well over half the bands I've featured on Retro Man Blog and Retrosonic Podcast owe a huge debt to Nuggets in some way or other - just check out some of our favourite contemporary acts from all over the globe such as Las Aspiradoras from Spain, The Satelliters from Germany, The Hangees from Sardinia, Vic & The Sect from Mexico, Frowning Clouds from Australia, Stompin’ Riff Raffs from Japan and The In-Fuzzed from France are just some great examples.

 

Lenny Kaye with Jim Jones

Lenny Kaye with Jon King from Gang of Four

Lenny with Moana Santana & Helene de Joie

Lenny decided to play some shows in America to celebrate the belated 50^th anniversary of the release of “Nuggets”, gathering together a stellar cast of musicians such as Peter Buck from R.E.M., Peter Zaremba from The Fleshtones, Kathy Valentine from The Go-Go's along with surviving members of some of the original bands like The Seeds, The Electric Prunes, The Leaves, The Chocolate Watchband and Johnny Echols of Love. Then came the announcement of a London show and Lenny, together with promoter Joe De Lorenzo, assembled an equally impressive Transatlantic cast for a night at the legendary 100 Club on Thursday April 4^th. Due to the huge demand, a second date on Friday 5^th was quickly added and that too sold out in lightning time, so we were grateful for the quick action in securing tickets for the Thursday, it was something I just could not have missed as the line-up looked amazing. Lenny took centre stage on guitar and vocals and it struck me that it looks like he's barely changed over the years, he’s relaxed and cheerful and looks genuinely chuffed to bits to be able to share his passion for good time Rock & Roll with us. There’s a core band backing Lenny, featuring bassist Dave Treganna of Sham 69 and Lords of The New Church, Jim Jones of Thee Hypnotics and Jim Jones All Stars on guitars and vocals, drumming duties were shared between Rat Scabies of The Damned and Marty Love of Wingmen and the Johnny Moped Band. The other ever presents were Derek Cruz from the Jesse Malin band on Guitars, Harmonica and Percussion and Greg Rice on the keyboards who both did a superb job considering they were in for the long haul. 

Lenny Kaye with Cheetah Chrome of The Dead Boys

Rat Scabies of The Damned

Lenny with Clive Jackson from Dr & The Medics

 

 

Various special guest vocalists joined in the fun - Clive 'The Doctor' Jackson of Dr. & The Medics, Jon King from Gang of Four, Alan Clayton of The Dirty Strangers, Peter Coyne of The Godfathers and Anita Chellamah from Cherry Bombz. They were joined buy the UK based New Yorker Roxanne Fontana and the New York based Amanda Cross who both have new records of their own out now. Then we had the guest guitarists, Cheetah Chrome from CBGB's legends Dead Boys, Japanese guitarist Tsuyoshi Kitagawa otherwise known as Go Ohgami, Brian James of The Damned, Billy Shinbone from The Sinclairs and Guy Griffin of The Quireboys. If that wasn't enough, former Clash compatriot DJ Barry 'Scratchy' Myers warmed up the crowd perfectly and Go-Go dancers Moana Santana and Helene de Joie provided some suitably 60's style atmosphere. We certainly got our ticket money's worth. The only disappointment was that Dave Vanian, Paul Gray and Captain Sensible of The Damned had to pull out as did Deb O'Nair, the original organ player with The Fuzztones. It was a big shame as both bands were pivotal in introducing me to Nuggets and The Fuzztones classic "Lysergic Emanations" is still one of my all-time favourites albums. I was hoping that we would see half of Naz Nomad reunited along with that classic Black Album/Strawberries (and praise be, also the current…) line-up of The Damned.

Cheetah Chrome of The Dead Boys

Rat Scabies, Jim Jones, Helene de Joie & Derek Cruz

Lenny with Alan Clayton of Dirty Strangers

Personally, I first got drawn to 60’s Nuggets mainly thanks to The Damned’s alter-ego Naz Nomad & The Nightmares and their soundtrack to an imaginary Swinging 60’s teen exploitation movie “Give Daddy the Knife Cindy”, which featured covers of prime Nuggets material. The 60's Garage Psych influence on the Damned’s superb "Strawberries" album was apparent and in the mid-80’s I could see The Fuzztones and Dr & The Medics thanks to The Damned inviting them on tour as support bands. Around that time, I also saw Australia's Scientists and Hoodoo Gurus and lapped up the Trash scene of the Klub Foot at The Clarendon in Hammersmith where The Prisoners with their Hammond organ (pretty rare at the time) conjured up not only Small Faces but Question Mark & The Mysterians iconic "96 Tears". The Tall Boys, Milkshakes, and my favourites The Playn Jayn, all mined the 60's Garage Rock and Psych sound and 1984-86 was an absolute blast of groovy sounds, yeah baby! In fact, I interviewed Dr & The Medics for my fanzine Out of Step just before they themselves became one-hit wonders and topped the charts with the now ubiquitous "Spirit in the Sky". However, before this brush with the mainstream, they were a pretty cool band, a superb live act and were responsible for running the Alice in Wonderland nightclub in London. Check out their early releases and demos, they are well worth a listen. But the disappointment of Dave, Paul, the Captain, and Deb not being able to make it was soon put to one side when you consider the quality of the assembled special guests who did appear.

Dave Treganna of Sham 69, The Doctor & Moana Santana

Peter Coyne of The Godfathers, Rat Scabies, Jim Jones & Derek Cruz

Lenny with Rat Scabies

 

 

In an immense set that stretched to well over two hours, the packed out 100 Club crowd were treated to an astonishing 33 songs including such Nuggets classics as “Dirty Water”, “Little Red Book”, “Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White”, “Pushing Too Hard”, “The Witch” and “Strychnine” , “Action Woman”, “Nobody But Me”, “You’re Gonna Miss Me”, “Wooly Bully” and of course “Louie Louie”. Lenny also made the decision to include some non-Nuggets crowd favourites to suit the guests and keep it varied and there were so many highlights, it’s hard and probably a bit unfair to pick out specific moments. But if pushed I must mention Peter Coyne’s visceral attack on The Creation’s “How Does It Feel To Feel” which took me back to the blistering early days of The Godfathers. Billy Shinbone’s extraordinary guitar wig-out on Pink Floyd’s “Interstellar Overdrive” even had Lenny staring open-mouthed in awe. Roxanne Fontana in a fetching mask and outfit took on Velvet Underground’s “Venus In Furs” and Alan Clayton’s Bluesy swagger on the Small Faces “Whatcha Gonna Do About It” was ace. Amanda Cross put in a stunning performance of Bo Diddley’s “Roadrunner” and Jim Jones in bug-eyed shades was the epitome of Rock ‘n’ Roll cool personified and his version of “99^th Floor” by The Moving Sidewalks was superb.

Dave Treganna, Roxanne Fontana, Marty Love & Lenny Kaye

Anita Chellamah & Helen de Joie

Lenny Kaye with Clive Jackson of Dr & The Medics

 

The Doctor took to the stage to croon through Love’s “My Little Red Book” and The Sonics “Strychnine”, which saw the crowd going crazy. Then there was Lenny Kaye’s own obscure Nugget, a great Garage Country Rock track “Crazy Like A Fox” from his pre-Patti Smith days in Link Cromwell & The Zoo. Everyone played their part – credit to Dave Treganna on bass as he had to play on all the songs throughout the evening and he kept everything ticking over perfectly. Behind the drums, Rat Scabies was immense as was Martin ‘Marty Love’ Parrott from Wingmen, another one of our favourite surprise collaborations. Things got wild towards the end of the set with the introduction of Cheetah Chrome from The Dead Boys and Brian James of The Damned – and they powered their way through MC5’s “Looking At You” and “Kick Out The Jams” before Lenny took off his shirt and announced “I’m gonna do this Iggy style” and I unconsciously sucked my stomach in as he was so fit and lean, putting me to shame, he looks amazing for 77! The familiar guitar riff to “I Wanna Be Your Dog” started off, and in true Iggy style, Lenny dives headlong off the stage for some crowd-surfing action, it’s a great moment. For the last song, all the special guests take to the stage for a massive singalong of “Gloria” and it’s over. What an amazing night, this will live long in the memory for sure. Massive congratulations to Joe De Lorenzo and whoever else helped to make this happen – a truly special Rock ‘n’ Roll happening that sums up the wonderful power of unabashed joyful music played by people who were having as much of a good time  on the stage as we were in the crowd.

Lenny takes a break to read a passage from his excellent book "Lightning Striking" before chanelling his inner-Iggy!

Check out our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel for more videos from the show. Also, please do take the time to click on the highlighted links throughout the feature to discover what else the wonderful special guests are up to! All photos and videos copyright Retro Man Blog.

 

 

Here's some pages from Issue 4 of my old fanzine Out of Step published in September 1985...

The Brian James Gang - Former Guitarist with The Damned & Lords of The New Church Promotes New Biography at The Troubadour in London

Brian James Gang at The Troubadour - Photo by Retro Man Blog

Punk Rock introduced me to some extremely original, talented and often unorthodox Guitar geniuses - Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd, Paul Fox of The Ruts, Andy Gill of Gang of Four, Rob Symmons of Subway Sect and Stuart Adamson of The Skids spring to mind for instance and Brian James of The Damned should never be overlooked. After all it's his instantly memorable riff to "New Rose" - the first ever U.K. "Punk" single and his crazed wig-out solo over that famous bass intro to "Neat Neat Neat". It's his splintered, almost Post-Punk sound on "Feel The Pain" and not forgetting the snake-hipped groove to the sublime "Fan Club". He wrote those songs too, not bad eh? In fact, The Damned's debut album "Damned Damned Damned" is all his own songwriting, bar Rat Scabies' "Stab Your Back" and a cover of Brian's beloved Stooges classic "1970 (I Feel Alright)" of course. Brian also had to carry most of the song-writing burden of the rush-job follow-up album "Music For Pleasure", which was slated at the time but it's evolved over the years into one of those records that's often described as a 'hidden gem'. Indeed there are some treasures on there, "One Way Love" and "Your Eyes" for example have become two of my all-time favourite Damned songs. Brian James is also the subject of an excellent new book by John Wombat entitled, "Bastard, The Damned, The Lords of The New Church & More: The Authorised Biography of Brian James". 

Brian James Gang at The Troubadour - Photo by Retro Man Blog

Brian James Gang at The Troubadour - Photo by Retro Man Blog

With a foreward by Henry Rollins and contributions from many of Brian's musical colleagues from his time in pre-Punk band Bastard right up to date with his often revolving Brian James Gang. There's snippets of information on his collaborations with Jean Jacques Burnel of The Stranglers and his time spent touring with his hero, Iggy Pop and many other side-projects and attempts at new bands along the way such as Tanz Der Youth and The Hellions. There's light shed on his dealings with the music business, signing to Stiff Records and the underhand dealings of Miles Copeland's I.R.S. label. However, it's the stories of Brian's time spent in his two most high profile outfits, The Damned and Lords of The New Church that will probably be of most interest and fans of both bands will not be disappointed. Damned drummer Rat Scabies is an entertaining contributor, as is former Sham 69 and Lords of The New Church bassist, Dave Treganna and they both add their own insights and perspectives to the tale. The gig at the legendary Troubadour in Earl's Court also doubles as the official launch party for the biography and both Brian and author John are there early to personally sign copies. Brian then takes the stage with his "Gang" who feature long time musical colleague Malcolm Mortimore on drums who's relationship with Brian goes back to the pre-Damned years and Mark Taylor on keyboards, who once played with Lords of The New Church. Austen Gayton is on bass and I recognise him from when I saw Brian, Rat Scabies and TexasTerri perform "Damned Damned Damned" at the Retro Bar a few years back, which you can read about in the Blog archive here.

Brian James Gang at The Troubadour - Photo by Retro Man Blog

Brian James Gang at The Troubadour - Photo by Retro Man Blog

The show starts off with Brian handling lead vocals on the first few numbers including the Stooges inflenced "Alone" an early song that was to appear on "Music For Pleasure" and "Walkin' Around Naked" from the excellent solo LP "The Guitar That Dripped Blood". Then, The Damned's "Born To Kill" raises the temperature in the packed out Troubadour quite a few degrees higher. The band are then joined by singer Alan Clayton from The Dirty Strangers and they treat us to a selection of songs from throughout Brian's career including a couple of covers, "Route 66" and "The Last Time" and a raucous run through of The Damned's version of The Stooges "1970 (I Feel Alright)". They played "Method To My Madness" by Lords of The New Church and I spotted LOTN bassist Dave Treganna smiling away at the front of the stage. I was hoping he was going to get up and play but instead he contented himself with a tambourine and backing vocals from his place in the crowd. "Neat Neat Neat" gets the full audience participation treatment and for the encore, John Wombat gets his chance to plug in a guitar and join in on "New Rose", why not, it's also his night!

Brian James Gang at The Troubadour - Photo by Retro Man Blog

Brian James Gang at The Troubadour - Photo by Retro Man Blog

The Kult 45's rounded things off with a set of down and dirty good time Rock'n'Roll, it's probably the best of frontman Dale Senior's many and varied line-ups that I have seen so far, and I've seen a few! The band ooze cool, all decked out in black and leopardskin and songs like "Law of The Jungle" and "Where D'ya Get Your Love" fuse The Cramps, Glam and The Stooges/Heartbreakers into an enjoyable Primal Rock 'n' Roll mash-up. I'd recommend checking them out if you get chance.

The Kult 45's at The Troubadour - Photo by Retro Man Blog

The Kult 45's at The Troubadour - Photo by Retro Man Blog

You can order the book from Amazon here and check out John Wombat's web-site here for more details on his other books which include biographies of Bryan Gregory of The Cramps, The Stooges' guitarist Ron Asheton and Johnny Thunders. Brian James official Facebook page is here.

Brian James Biography by John Wombat

You can see some videos of the Brian James Gang and The Kult 45's from the launch party at our Retro Man Blog YouTube channel here and more photos over at our official Facebook page here.

Alvin Gibbs & The Disobedient Servants "Your Disobedient Servant" - Debut Solo LP From U.K. Subs & Iggy Pop Bassist

Alvin Gibbs, the current U.K. Subs & former Iggy Pop bassist is due to release his debut solo album "Your Disobedient Servant" on the excellent Time & Matter Recordings label at the end of January. It will be released on limited edition red and white splatter coloured vinyl packaged with a double-sided full colour insert along with a CD of the album and a download code that you can redeem via Bandcamp. Throughout the album Alvin handles lead and backing vocals, bass and rhythm guitar and has assembled an impressive star-studded band, entitled The Disobedient Servants, to back him up. There are some legendary names from the worlds of Punk, Trash and Alternative Rock including Brian James from The Damned and Lords of The New Church, Leigh Heggarty from Ruts DC, James Stevenson from Chelsea and Generation X and Alvin's U.K. Subs colleague Jamie Oliver on drums and percussion. The good thing is that despite the many special guests, "Your Disobedient Servant" still retains a cohesive sound that feels like it's a been produced by a 'real' band. This is mainly down to Alvin's impressive vocals that hold everything together along with a great powerful production. It's also a varied album that runs through some of the musical styles that Alvin has been involved with over the years from sleazy Glam-tinged Rock'n'Roll to a full-on Punk Rock and fans of the U.K. Subs, Hanoi Rocks and Iggy Pop in particular are going to love this record.

Alvin on stage with U.K. Subs - Photo by Paul Slattery

Lyrically, the album could be seen as a soundtrack to Alvin's candid autobiography "Some Weird Sin: On Tour With Iggy Pop", in particular the revised edition which replaced the earlier, and slightly more restrained "Neighbourhood Threat". The book is packed full of often brutally honest confessional tales of a Rock 'n' Roll lifestyle on the road with Iggy Pop when he was touring the world to promote the back to basics album "Instinct". I was lucky enough to see a couple of the shows on this tour and it was definitely one of the best line-ups that Iggy had assembled. His band also included Andy McCoy from Hanoi Rocks on guitar and Paul Garisto from The Psychedelic Furs on drums and they were absolutely mind-blowing gigs. "Your Disobedient Servant" opens with the short sharp shock of "Arterial Pressure" a crunching 2 minute tribute to Joey Ramone and the scene is set for the thoroughly satisfactory listen that is to follow. The album includes both sides of the recent limited edition 7" Single "Ghost Train" & "Clumsy Fingers" which had cover artwork designed by another legendary Punk bassist, Gaye Black from The Adverts. "Ghost Train" features Leigh Heggarty from Ruts DC on guitars and has Alvin in great voice, booming out an impressive Iggy style baritone. The flip-side "Clumsy Fingers" is an absolute belter of a song, rocket fuelled by Brian James from The Damned and Lords of The New Church. It recalls the tale of an 'amorous duel' and starts off with a great drum beat before a killer bass riff comes in. You can hear "Clumsy Fingers" in Episode 32 of our Retrosonic Podcast where my colleague Paul Slattery chats about his time photographing the U.K. Subs for various weekly music papers such as Sounds. Some of his photos were used on the back cover of the "Warhead" 7" single and the front of the compilation "Original Punks Original Hits".

Alvin Gibbs - Photo by Aleksander Korobczuk

"Dumb" is another highlight, driven along on an irresistible hand-clap rhythm and a great guitar motif. "Camden Town Gigolo" featuring the guitar talents of James Stevenson from Chelsea and Generation X, slows the pace a bit and is built around a circular bass riff as it tells the tale of a fading Rock'n'Roll casualty coming to terms with the ageing process. "Back to Mayhem" with Steve Crittall from The Godfathers on lead and rhythm guitars is a full-on Hardcore Punk rush that will certainly appeal to fans of the current U.K. Subs line-up. Here, Alvin admits that he struggles with dealing with the come-down following a long period of life on the road and having to face reality, he craves the excitement and danger. "When life is good, confidence high, I need a dose of chaos, some poison with the wine, back to mayhem, I’m in too straight a place, comfort is a curse". The brooding "Polemic" is one of my favourites on the album with slide guitar by Leigh Heggarty from Ruts DC, it chronicles the impact of seeing his very first live bands in the Seventies and how they "conditioned my ambition and set me free, it’s the blood that fuels my guitar". "I’m Not Crying Now" features Barrington Francis from The Saints on lead and rhythm guitar and it's a candid vignette of a relationship that turns sour when one person finds out the other is maybe not quite as famous and wealthy as was hoped. "Deep As Our Skin" closes the album in some style, it's a classic slice of sleazy New York Dolls Rock 'n' Roll courtsey of Mick Rossi from Slaughter & The Dogs that aptly soundtracks the songs subject matter of a raucous night in CBGB's and Manhattan.

Alvin Gibbs & The Disobedient Servants will be playing some shows in 2019, including this year’s Rebellion Festival in Blackpool and other dates are being announced now. Check out the official U.K. Subs web-site for further details. The album can be ordered from Time & Matter Recordings or downloaded at the Bandcamp site. Alvin's superb book "Some Weird Sin" can be ordered here. With thanks to Mark and Rob at Time & Matter, please check out their excellent and official U.K. Subs web-site and archive here.

Scabies/James play "Damned, Damned, Damned" with Texas Terri at The Retro, Westbourne Park July 27th

Photo by Paul Slattery

I couldn't make it to the recent Scabies/James gig at the 100 Club, but I was in two minds anyway, maybe even a bit sceptical about it. How was it going to work? How were the drummer and guitarist going to pull this one off, not only with the absent, but still imposing presence of Captain Sensible and Dave Vanian looming over them, but with a girl singer taking the lead? Not only is "Damned, Damned, Damned" one of my all time favourite albums, but all those classic songs, with Vanian's somewhat Americanised drawl, they are all etched into my brain. So I was curious but not a little dubious too. However, after the 100 Club gig, I heard back from people that were there and it was all pretty much positive. Most of the reviews and comments were all glowing red hot and it did indeed seem that Scabies/James and Texas Terri had in fact pulled it off extremely well. 

Texas Terri by Paul Slattery

So I was really keen to see them play and made my way to the Retro in Westbourne Park, where an excellent set from The Priscillas warmed things up nicely. This was a special gig to celebrate Rat's birthday and also the 35th year of what was to be the first ever U.K. Punk Rock album, "Damned, Damned, Damned". The Damned were always ahead of the game, the first Punk single, first to tour in America and the first ever Punk album too. It's iconic custard pie splashed cover photo, heralded originally by those rather sinister adverts suggesting you should "Play It At Your Sister", The Damned's debut was a raw and chaotic statement of intent. That live, youthful energy was captured perfectly by producer Nick Lowe, and on first listen it felt almost as though the band were leaping out of the vinyl and bashing you around the head with their guitars and drumsticks. Back to the present, and I'm getting a breather outside the venue when I hear that familiar elastic bass riff to "Neat, Neat, Neat", I rush inside and make it down the front, a quick drum burst from Rat and then I'm almost blasted back outside again by the sheer power and volume of Brian James' guitar amp. 

Texas Terri is a vivid blur of bright red hair and tattoos, she's been compared to a female Iggy Pop and it's not hard to see why. Terri was previously in sleaze trash rock outfits The Killer Clowns and The Stiff Ones, and has just released an album under the name Texas Terri Bomb! brilliantly titled, "Your Lips...My Ass!". That album features a guest appearance by Wayne Kramer of The MC5, one of The Damned's big favourites. Tonight, although they do play all the songs from the album, it isn't in strict track-listing order, for example a brilliant "Born To Kill" is followed by a storming run through of "You Take My Money" from the follow up album "Music For Pleasure". Hearing that makes you wonder why that second album is so maligned as it is a really great song. Maybe it was the production or the dynamic of the band changing, what with the the band expanding to a five piece with the addition of Lu Edmonds as second guitarist, incidentally now playing in the revamped Public Image Limited. I do think it's an album that deserves a second chance. Texas Terri is really getting into her stride as an unrelenting blast of high octane tracks follow, including "So Messed Up", "See Her Tonight" and an immense "Fish", with Rat's drumming blowing the cobwebs away. After seeing Rat recently drumming for the Members, where you get to appreciate the true skills of a drummer not usually noted for his subtlety. But, tonight we get the full on assault of the Punk Rock Keith Moon, crashing round his kit. Not a bad songwriter either, as two Rat penned numbers follow, the brilliant single "Stretcher Case Baby" and the brutal, short sharp shock of "Stab Yor Back". 

Scabies & James - Photo by Paul Slattery

Terri leaps off the stage and makes her way to the back of the room where she balances on a partition and belts out her vocals. I thought having an American singer would be strange but she makes it work so well, and really injects her own personality into the songs. Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, I always felt Vanian was singing with a bit of an American twang on the album. Plus, Brian James was always steeped in that Stooges/MC5 influence and did go on to work with The Dead Boys' Stiv Bators in Lords Of The New Church. My slight cynicism was quite literally, blown away, maybe because I'm standing right in front of Brian's amp, it is loud, he turns up the volume. Rat later tells me that Brian's volume can cause a bit of consternation for some venue's sound engineers, I can understand why, my ears were not to recover for the whole weekend. It's great to hear those familiar riffs though, Brian is a hugely underrated guitarist, he has that unique angular way of playing chords, and I find myself playing air guitar along to "I Fall". I look around, sheepishly hoping nobody noticed, but it was just an involuntary reaction, and I guess I wasn't the only one!

Photo by Paul Slattery

So, a short but ultimately satisfying set draws to a close with "I Feel Alright (1970)", and a quick happy birthday singalong to Rat. The band kick off the encores with their crazed cover of "Help!" with more energy and power than most young bands can seem to muster. The Bass player Austin, who has worked with Brian before, handles his role really well, taking a bit of a back seat next to Terri, Rat and Brian, he nevertheless deserves a big shout as he played brilliantly too, keeping it locked in as Rat and Brian bash away respectively on the Stooges style free-form wig-out "Alone". "Sick of Being Sick" is a great choice and of course there can only be one closing number, yes it's "New Rose". I was converted, it was a really fresh take on the reunion/come back and play a classic album scenario, and I suppose if you are going to recreate something like this, you might as well do it with a totally different slant. Unless you can pull off the ultimate trick, as the Buzzcocks did recently, and get all the original members back on board, then what's the point of roping in some karaoke tribute band style lookalike/soundalike. Yeah just do it different and do it well, just like they did tonight. So, all in all it worked perfectly, a great idea and I wouldn't be surprised if they couldn't make this into an interesting little side-project band with maybe some new material to come in the future? Now, that really would be something!

All Photos above - Courtesy & Copyright Paul Slattery 2012

Photographer Paul Slattery with Texas Terri - Photo by M. Worrall (Copyright 2012)