On a Sunday freezing January night in the unemployment blackspot of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, many hundreds of people turn out in an old Victorian music hall to watch punk rock’s equivalent of Sir Francis Drake talk for two and a half hours about his recent travels and a little about his past, whilst barley stopping for breath.

First coming to prominence as vocalist for the amazing Black Flag Henry Rollins before fronting his own band, he has long since given up making music preferring to appear onstage performing spoken word, acting – most recently in Sons of Anarchy, writing books, a newspaper column, hosting a weekly radio show and presenting various TV shows. Phew!

So fourth date on a fourteen month tour that starts in the UK, Henry tells us that last year was an inhaling year in which he travels and absorbs and this year he exhales and relays his experiences.

I’m not wanting to give too much away, but he starts with a very amusing observation of the typical UK chav tourist family he encountered when flying into Manchester (Shameless?) , then recalls some early Black Flag touring stories including a harrowing stage-diving story and when he met a certain household-name rock band. A trip to India where he was hosting a show for National Geographic  was relayed in great detail as were his visits to Tibet, North Korea, Vietnam, Haiti, Kentucky and Costco!

Wherever he visits Henry befriends the locals, keen to absorb as much information, knowledge and experience as possible, he’s refreshingly un-typical of many Americans and repeatedly echoed his belief that if people travelled more, engaged more and shared Ramones albums that war and conflict would be a thing of the past. Amen to that!

For someone with such a stern and serious reputation who admits he has “no jokes”, he recalls each experience with considerable humor and the laughter he receives he welcomes like a singer receiving applause.

At the end he looked privileged to have been able to share his experiences with us, and we felt privileged to have been in the audience.

Had the pleasure of seeing The Damned in Newcastle and Edinburgh on their recent 35th Anniversary Tour which featured all of Damned, Damned Damned (except Stab Your Back) and The Black Album in its entirety, including a full-length version of Curtain Call.

I’ve seen The Damned on numerous occasions since the 70s and many times in the past few years and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen them enjoy themselves so much on stage; they seemed re-energised and I suspect a lot of that has to do with the packed houses they were playing to. Attendances for the every night of the tour were up considerably as the audience flocked to see two of their finest albums performed.

The intro music was the theme music to 633 Squadron. In Edinburgh the curtain opened to revel the band wearing paper bags and they launched into Neat, Neat, Neat and performed the whole song wearing the. Hilarious!!

The first 28 minutes of the show was dedicated to Damned, Damned, Damned. Wonderful to hear One Of The Two and I Feel Alright. Must have been years since they were performed. Then there was a ten minute break and a costume change and then The Black Album.  Some of those songs like Twisted Nerve I don’t remember them performing when the album was released and others like 13th Floor Vendetta and Therapy were great to hear again.

The encores varied but included Eloise, Smash It Up, Love Song, Disco Man and Nasty.

The tour was certainly something very special. MAGNIFICENT!!

Friday, November 18 · 8:00pm – 11:00pm

There’s a nice little mini-festival taking place in Derby this December.

SATURDAY 10TH DECEMBER
DOORS 4PM / 14+ AGES

ENTRY – £7 ADV /  £10 ON THE DOOR

A WHOLE DAY OF TOP DRAWER ANARCHO-PUNK AND FELLOW TRAVELLERS

WITH
ZOUNDS
EASTFIELD
ANDY T
ASTRONAUTS
ADDICTIVE PHILOSOPHY
AFTER THE LAST SKY
EPHEMERAL FOETUS
LUDDITE BASTARD
CHRIS BUTLER

PLUS DISTROS

TICKETS FROM -THE VENUE / BPM RECORDS {OPP. THE VENUE} / AT EASTFIELD GIGS
OR ONLINE FROM TICKETLINE
https://www.ticketline.co.uk/order/tickets/13262549/zounds-alldayer-derby-th
e-old-bell-hotel-2011-12-10-16-00-00

ZOUNDS – 2011 TOUR DATES
Thu. 10/13/11 @ Cafe Nine 250 State St., New Haven, CT
Fri. 10/14/11 @ AS220m 115 Empire St., Providence, RI
Sat. 10/15/11 @ Knitting Factory, 361 Metropolitan Ave., Bklyn, NY
Fri 10/21/11@ The Brighton Bar, 121 Brighton Ave., Long Branch, NJ
Sat 10/22/11 @ The Sidebar, 218 E. Lexington St., Baltimore, MD

There’s an article and photos here: http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2011/10/zounds_touring.html

It’s become something of a tradition for Crashed Out to play an Xmas show and this year it’s on again on Wednesday 28th December, with the added bonus of Gimp Fist and Hi-Fi Spitfires.

It’s no longer at Trillians but at The Office in South Shields and tickets are just £5.

Cast A Long Shadow – An Evening With The Monochrome Set
Saturday 10th September 2011, 7:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.

“How can anyone go through life without the dear, cuddly Monochrome Set?” – Morrissey

The most cinematic d’Anglais post punk bands, The Monochrome Set, walk to the big screen to cast a long shadow over the Star and Shadow Cinema tonight; from 1979, with an exclusive DVD screening of:
The Monochrome Set – M80 Festival Concert, Walker Arts Centre, Minneapolis, USA 22/09/79 (approx 45 mins)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2TVMxnrSCKY/TUMJvPflNnI/AAAAAAAASM4/0pXXtY7-WXM/s1600/walkerposter.jpg

Compelling footage of The Monochrome Set’s complete performance at the late 70s M80 US Festival. Filmed in back to mono-chrome, this atmospheric film captures 1979′s best band in town out of town at the very beginning performing early numbers “He’s Frank” (recently covered by Brighton Port Authority featuring Iggy Pop), “Eine Symphonie Des Grauens” and “Goodbye Joe” (also covered by Tracey Thorn) alongside unreleased “Fly Me To The Moon”. An official DVD of the concert, poised for commercial release, will be available to purchase on the evening.

In complete contrast, the black and white Monochrome Set of 1979 will be followed by a very special live performance from a recently reunited and colourful 2011 line up:

Original members Bid, Lester Square and Andy Warren are joined by drummer Steve Brummell and keyboard player John Paul Moran. Still defying definition after thirty years, the band have returned to reap some reward from both critical and artistic applause along the way performing selected highlights from their stand-alone Rough Trade, Dindisc, Cherry Red and Blanco Y Negro back catalogues.

For more information visit: http://www.starandshadow.org.uk/on/gig/346

FORTHCOMING GIGS by Rock Garden Revisited Promotions:

Sat 8th October – John Otway & Shrug & Bob Fischer

Friday 9th December – The Rezillos & Johnny Seven

Saturday Feb 25th 2012 – The Wolfmen & Ligotage (Adam & Ants Tribute Band)

More info: www.rockgardenrevisited.co.uk

Cyanide Pills play The Central Bar in Gateshead this Friday 15th July, and it’s FREE!

Support bands are The Bruts and The Maximum Zeros.

999 are playing three north-eastern gigs this week:

Fri 1st     Victoria club, Carlisle
Sat 2nd     The Georgian Theatre, Stockton on Tees (8pm)
Sun 3rd     Three Tuns, Gateshead

You can also catch them at Guilfest and Rebellion. At Rebellion Nick Cash will also be doing a solo gig.