LTW newsletter : 23

Welcome Warriors!

Whilst we prepare our latest book giveaway (we will be mail you list of free books and first come first served and we will post out!) We truly are in gig season now…as the leaves go incandescent orange and brown and fall from the trees and the small furry mammals burrow deeper into their annual hibernation and the sky aches with an iron cold and summer’s lingering affection is spurned by the deathly hush of winter, the venues erupt with sound and vision!

Louder Than War has been scuttling like a small mammal from one high decibel bolthole to another but not looking for a warm wintry burrow but looking for the action in all its mighty and myriad forms. And this week we have certainly been seeing myriad overdrive!

There was Erasure doing a big sell out show at Manchester’s Apollo which seemed to be a gig that everyone I had ever known was at! All music subculture creeds turned out in a mighty force for the flamboyant duo - there were goths, indie kids and even metal heads as well as mad music heads all paying homage to the mighty pop machine who certainly played a jukebox set stuffed full of songs where you go ‘I’d forgotten this one!’

It was camp and colourful and gloriously silly and end to end great pop tunes as our reviewer reported.

Another curious gigs was the Rick Astley fronting the Blossoms doing the Smiths show that took place in Manchester. As a conceptual joke it is, of course, hilarious but Rick Astley knows how to run with a joke and can actually sing and double bluffed everyone by being a big enough Smiths fan to ‘get’ the songs so it was not merely a case of parrot fashioning life changing songs from an auto cue. The audience, like our reviewer, left the venue raving - this was all a bit more than what they had bargained for…

Johnny Marr had already famously tweeted that he wasn't sure if the gig was ‘horrible or funny’ but what of his estranged former singer? well Moz being Moz couldn’t resist leaving a subtle statement and turned up to see Echobelly play a show a few hundred yards from Rick and his chums. It’s the first time he had been spotted at a Manchester gig since he met LTW editor John Robb at a Depeche Mode gig in 1980.

The Quiffy one was photographed here…

Speaking of all things Manc this is the week that the Afflecks Palace debut album finally comes out. What started as an obvious labour of love to glorious Manc baggy days of 1989 with a pastiche so perfect it was like at time capsule has only gone and transcended itself by being gloriously brilliant guitar pop album. The group went from being immersed in their heroes music and vibe to being as good as them! Someone in that band is a damn fine song writer and the coolest thing about Afflecks Palace is that they stand alone as a great guitar band!

There has been a lot of hot air and hoo hah surrounding the incoming Danny Boyle film/TV series about Steve Jones and the Sex Pistols…most of the hot air, to be fair, seems to have come from John Lydon but it’s good to hear other voices from the camp. John Robb interviewed Paul Cook here to get his side of the story and this was one former Pistol whose politeness and loyalty to the band and good nature shone through in a fascinating interview about the film and the band his lifelong friendship with Steve Jones.

The Manic Street Preachers hit the road to support their recent number one album and the shows have, of course, been a monumental celebration of this great band who have become national treasures after their stormy and thrilling beginning. The art and craft of writing great songs has stood them in good stead and their emotional and melodic brilliance still shines through decades after they burst onto the scene.

Chris Packham has been getting threats from the usual anonymous bullies who fear his outspoken opinions. Chris has been campaigning in overdrive on green and Eco issues and using his position to make a difference. It’s something he learned from his teenage days immersed in punk rock. A teenage fascination that never left him as he explains to John Robb here in this list of top ten life changing punk rock shows.

Speaking of that hallowed era fast rising new comer Hamish Hawk gave us his top five post punk songs that have affected his current muse.

We were sorry to hear of the deaths of the much loved indie maverick Pat Fish AKA the Jazz Butcher. Alex Maiao wrote a brilliant appreciation here

And also sorry to hear of the death of Bush Tetras drummer Dee Pop