Thursday March 3rd saw LoGOz hitting the gig trail again and road tripping our arses to Redcar for the very first time! The place being the newly opened music venue The Deck. As we approached the sea front situated establishment we were noticing the lack of people activity in and around ghost town Redcar on this bitterly cold Thursday night! Anyway after finding the place and a meet and greet with promoter Benzo and sidekick DJ Stevie we were already preparing for sound check! After a slight scare due to lack of drum stands which was swiftly resolved, we were soon bashing the shit out of our instruments to a rousing NO WIN SITUATION warm up! Sorted. So we then hit the bar to chat with vinyl enthusiast Stevie and wait for stage time! As the clock struck 10:45 late we strapped on our guitars and sticks and ripped into LONG TIME DEAD. It was great to be back in the rock n roll saddle and we were tighter than ever! As this was only our second gig of 2016 by the end of the set it was job well done by our own high standards, but we couldn't help be a little disappointed at the sheer lack of crowd! As the tumbleweed settled and we chewed the fat with Benzo and Stevie, we knew this place has potential to do well with the right promotion and timing etc. From the band point of view it was a successful performance cos we played so well after what had previously been a difficult few weeks for the band, with a few personal problems due to unforeseen circumstances etc. So it was great to put that behind us and get back to doing what we do best :) Even roadworks and diversions on the A19 on the way back to Northumberland didn't dampen our spirits as we looked ahead to ur second road trip in 3 days on Saturday! No sleep til Morecambe!!!
So as Saturday arrived we headed out of Ashington around 2:30pm for the 2 hour 35 min drive to Morecambe for our slot at the Punk Not Profit event. The sea side resort of course helped popularised by a certain comedian Eric Bartholomew changing his stage name to his original birthplace.
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Pic: P Spicer
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The journey flew by, thanks to no problems traffic wise and before we knew it the ever unreliable sat nav had taken us past the statue of their favourite Son and to the wrong venue!! After a quick phone call to LoGOz HQ we arrived safely at the correct place, The Bath Hotel. Judging by the Mohawks and tartarn attire being sported by the lads and lasses in the street outside, we were in good company! As we entered the venue we were pointed in the direction of organiser Graham McCrae, who informed us they are running a little behind schedule so our slot had been pushed back til around 7pm. Suits us mate. Champion. Just enough time to head back to the sea front and get a quick band snap with Eric! Braving the bitter freezing seaside breeze we were more than happy snappers! Bring me sunshine indeed!
After loading the gear inside we watched the band on before us! I didn't catch their name but l remember more about their appearance than their songs! Old school in yer face punk, a drummer with a tattooed face, a Dennis the menace jumper wearing bearded guitarist with a rather fetching Hells Angel hat helmet and a guitarist with 2 blonde Mohawks on each side of his head! Oh and a Jo Brand-a-like vocalist who really went for it! This kinda fired us up cos come stage time we were like caged animals! There was a noisy rowdy bustling busy crowd there for the taking and we weren't gonna disappoint! As we blasted through our set with sonic driven ferocity, the crowd po-go'd, punched the air, cheered and tried to sing along best they could! We went down a storm, in particular HELLO LONELY getting a rapturous reception! We even threw in Sex Pistols PRETTY VACANT for good measure, much to the crowds delight! One rather refreshed old punk amused as he was bemused to our original brand of Punk rock n rolla even grabbed wor Paul on the nose at one point, for reasons best known to himself haha! It was all in playful good nature of course. As the final strains of MEXICOLA were ringing out, it was all over too quickly! But this had been again one of my favourite ever LoGOz gigs to date! I'm sure Carlos and Paul agree. The reception and reaction to our set was just amazing and the feedback from everyone we spoke to afterwards was tremendously positive! The people of Morecambe were certainly now Wise to LoGOZ for sure :) We hung around sharing drinks, flyers, and contacts with new found friends and fans. As we said our goodbyes we thanked Graham for putting the band on and wished him every success in the future and a return to Morecambe again is definitely on the cards. Top geezer :)
As we drove out of Town with the moonlight shining on Eric's lit up statue we were more than satisfied with our evenings work. Perfect. Not quite. More roadworks and diversions meant an unexpected late night trek through the Yorkshire dales for good measure! But this still couldn't spoil the fun for the LoGOz bandwagon as we clicked up more valuable mileage and experience with another cracking gig! Thanks again to Graham McCrae and everyone at The Bath Hotel, and the enthusiastic fantastic people of Morecambe..oh and not forgetting Eric and Ernie :)
So onto this week folks! First of all this Tuesday night March 8th I'm playing a solo acoustic set at The Three Tuns in Gateshead. This is part of an Insangel Introducing night. Doors at 8pm and it's FREE Entry. Then on Thursday March 10th LoGOz return to Trillians in Newcastle to support Uk punk legends 999. This event is £5 Entry so come on down and make a noise with the boys! There's no such thing as a school night :)
More news and views coming in my next blog!
Thanks for reading :)
Cheerz
Peesh X
since I supported them in my old band JUNKSTER. So this I was looking forward to! As main man Nick Cash said from the stage, they formed the band in 1976 and the press back then said they wouldn't last a year, yet here they are 40 years later! You can't help but admire them for that. Not only in attitude have they got it right but onstage too. Like many things in life, bands like this just get better with age. Helped along by the driving Lurkers rhythm section of Arturo Bassick and Pablo on drums, they were on top form. These lads have played on every punk stage from Dundee to Düsseldorf and know their audience. As they belted out their classics 'Emergency' and 'Homicide' people down the front singing every word back to them it was almost 1978 all over again! The lads also gave LoGOz a few good shout outs from the stage which was a good touch, so cheers for that! I've said it before and I'll said it again "Old Punks never Die"!
