Jack Viper and Red Star Rebels rock the hell out of Cardiff

The book is written so let the celebrations begin. With the manuscript for ROCK LEGENDS AT ROCKFIELD now in the hands of the publishers, it's time to kick back and rock out. I haven't been to a gig since Budgie back in the middle of December. (That's last year for heavens sake!!!) To rectify this error, I head down to the Point in Cardiff, which is a cool venue. It's a converted church. The bands play on a stage where the pulpit used to be and the crowd stand where the old aisles would have been. It has a very goth atmosphere and I just love going there.
Anyway, I head inside to find the third act on the bill just starting. Now usually, I find the third act is more often than not terrible or, if you're lucky, average. Tonight I extremely bloody lucky. The first act on is Jack Viper and boy are they good. Even with a temporary stand-in singer, they absolutely rocked the house!!! This is sleaze rock at its best. Kick-ass tunes, bad-ass attitude and tonnes of talent. Guitarist Eddie Shredder sprays out cool riff after hot lick, while Mr Kiss on bass keeps the rhythm hot and steady along with the superb skin-pounding of The Ferlanger on drums. Songs like Walk the Line and g.f.y had the crowd singing along in a one massive, leaping mass of bodies. With usual singer Jay R out of action for personal reasons, the band enlisted the help of friend David Domminney on vocals. He did a superb job. After the gig, Eddie Shredder assured me that Jay R will be back soon. He also told me that the band are also getting ready to go into the studio to record a new ep.
These guys are good. If you get a chance to see them - don't miss it. This band is going far!
Next up were the Red Star Rebels. This is a band that oozes charisma. I've not see a lead singer dominate and command the stage so much since a very young Jon Bon Jovi, strutting the stage, in 1988 just before Slippery When Wet was released. He reminded me back then of a young Mick Jagger. Bon Jovi were superb that night and its a shame they decided to turn their back on glam metal and turn to pop-rock. They could have been great. But back to the Rebels. (see the top three pics at top of blog) Singer Blacky Rebels has geniune stage presence. He is captivating. Guitarist Meady is also a revelation. Superb. At the start of Too Young Too Care he has two guitars, one slung over each arm, and proceeds to play the both. Outstanding. A cracking set is over all too soon. They could have gone on for at least another two hours and the crowd still wouldn't have been satisfied. 2007 is definitely the year of the Rebel!!!!
Next up - top of the bill - The LA Guns. Strangely, and sadly, they are very disappointing. Seeing Tracii Guns (See final two pics) in action was great but he seemed a little muted and quiet. To make matters worse, the sound was terrible. The vocals were muffled making every song blend into the next. The band seemed to lack the hunger and excitement of The Red Star Rebels and Jack Viper. It's a shame as the LA Guns are a great band. But everyone has an off night, I guess.

After the gig I chat for half an hour with Meady from the Rebels, who is a great bloke. The band are a level headed bunch and are doing all the right things. They are shortly due to make their first album. It should be a smash hit!!
I stagger home at 1am - having enjoyed a throughly good evening. The next gig I see has a lot to live up too if its to outdo tonight.
Long live rock!!!!!!


ROCK LEGENDS AT ROCKFIELD by Jeff Collins is to be published in the summer 2007 by University of Wales Press (Europe) and University of Chicago Press (USA).
It will be available from www.amazon.co.uk/www.amazon.com

Oasis Trash Rockfield, Black Sabbath and others tales of rural destruction

12pm Monday December 15th.
I've been frantically typing away - it's a battle against the clock to finish my manuscript for my book ROCK LEGENDS AT ROCKFIELD (See pic of studio above). A real punch-up to the end. In the Blue corner, I'm armed with my Mac Laptop and determination. But in the Red corner, the clock is far more devious than me and seems to be playing dirty. I have to fight pangs of hunger, tiredness, and a DVD copy of the hysterically funny US sitcom Newsradio, which staring at me from across the desk - just daring me to play one quick episode. "It won't hurt" says the DVD "Just one short episode to cheer you up and boost morale. Going on! You know you want to." In my tired and paranoid state I'm convinced that the clock has set all these things against me.
But I refuse to give in, having been typing solidly since 7am. After and brutal and bloody 12 rounds, finally there's only one left standing. I'm the victor and my manuscript is finally sent off to University of Wales Press. The first major hurdle is beaten.

Over the past few days I've been tidying up some of the last few pieces of the jigsaw. Chapter 2 on Black Sabbath was awaiting one or two more pieces to make it complete. Finally former Sabbath and Whitesnake basist Neil Murray gets in touch to give me his comments on Rockfield. The guy's a legend and his answers are very eloquent and absolutely fascinating. His insights are added to the chapter and - hey presto - its finished. I'm very proud of the Sabbath chapter and feel its one of the funniest of the book (and that's against pretty stiff opposition)

The final piece of the jigsaw is chapter ten. It's the chapter focusing on the 90's. This mainly centres on the mayhem caused by Oasis and The Stone Roses during their visits. The centrepiece of the Oasis section is an interview with famous music photographer Michael Spencer Jones, who became friends with Oasis before they were famous and stayed with them for 3/4 years photographing them live and in the studio, He did most of their album and singles covers. For Be Here Be Now they dumped a Rolls Royce in a swimming pool. Michael says they did it simply because they could!!! They asked the record company for £100,000 for the car - the company exectives approved it probably thinking they'd end up with a Rolls after the shoot which they could put to use. But no! Oasis drove it straight it the pool, totally wrecking it -- as it wasn't a special James Bond underwater Rolls Royce. This one preferred dry land!
Michael was there at Rockfield when Oasis recorded (What's The Story) Morning Glory? It was during this that the band very nearly broke up. They had a fight with a rival band, started brawling amongst themselves and Rockfield ended up being trashed. Liams room was one of the worst scenes of destruction. Michael described some of the devastation "It was about as bad as it can get really. You know the bed was broken in half. The TV was on the outside of the room instead of the inside. Still plugged in as well!" Recording on the album was abandoned for a while as the band fled Rockfield but they later returned to finish it.

With Chapter Ten completed - I spend all day Sunday and this Monday Morning reading through everything, checking for spelling errors, grammatical mistakes and typos. It's tough going as its soooo interminably dull!!

1pm -- I can at last releax for now. I've emailed all the chapters off. So to relax I'm off to see the Red Star Rebels and LA Guns in Cardiff at The Point in a few days time. I'm really Looking forward to it. Both bands are superb. The Rebels ep Too Young To Care is awesome and a must buy for anyone who likes good old classic rock. LA Gun last CD Tales From the Strip was a real return to form. A cracking album.
So should be a great show!!

ROCK LEGENDS AT ROCKFIELD by Jeff Collins is to be published by the University of Wales Press in summer 2007.
It will be available to buy from www.amazon.com/www.amazon.co.uk.