Tuesday, May 20, 2008

More Musical Oldies

Following on from my Neil Diamond admission yesterday, I seem to have got myself caught up in a wave of musical nostalgia and whilst I have resisted paying to see Mr Diamond, I’ve found myself lured to see other pop pensioners.

The WonderStuff
They were the first band I ever went to see and at this rate they may well be the last band I go to see, when I see them again in October. You may remember them from the dreadful Vic Reeves collaboration “Dizzy” or the annoying “Size of a Cow” neither of which are particularly representative of the rest of their work. Not that I’m saying the rest of their output was particularly good (an over indulgence on the fiddle being one flaw).

The WonderStuff are a unique band in that they attained a certain level of success but they have never influenced anyone else. No new bands ever cite The WonderStuff as an influence. Nobody ever mentions them as being their favourite band. Their influence has been nil. But they still have some loyal fans, willing to turn up toatch an increasingly bald and overweight frontman and a decreasing number of original band members belt out the old favourites.

Amongst those fans seem to be quite a few of my friends and I will now be seeing them for I think the fifth time. Not only that but my friend who booked the tickets, opted for the VIP tickets which involve meeting the band at a backstage after party. Their frontman, Miles Hunt was surly enough in his youth so I’m struggling to picture him at this “meet and greet”.


An Evening with Primal Scream and MC5
The last time I saw Primal Scream (not counting the time I stalked Bobby on the tube), they were back on form, but I could have probably resisted seeing them again. Until they were put on a bill with MC5. Or what remains of the MC5. I’m not sure if there are many of them left but at least this concert is in June so not too long for the rest of them to hang in.

I really did expect the OH to refuse to go to this one as it means a return to the Royal Festival Hall to see one (or arguably two) bands that are way past their heyday. I didn’t expect him to be too keen on this since he accompanied me to see Roky Erickson last year. But I was wrong.

So in June we will hopefully see both bands on stage together playing Kick Out the Jams.




My Bloody Valentine
Another reformed band, but this time a bit more credible and the OH’s choice. These will probably be pretty good.

11 comments:

Miss Forthright said...

I loved Size Of A Cow! Have got it on tape somewhere. Primal Scream are always good live, even though they did their best work years ago.

Anonymous said...

I loved the wonderstuff and must have been seen them about 100 times - being from the midlands where I was at Uni, they played at my student union virtually every month along with 'neds atomic dustbin' and 'carter'...oh those were the days...

SandDancer said...

The first time I saw them Neds were the support - all part of the Stourbridge scene I believe!

agirlinwinter said...

I loved The Wonder Stuff - they were the first band I ever saw. I remember I bought a WS t-shirt and wore it until it fell apart. Happy days.

Roses said...

???

I am obviously a garden gnome when it comes to music.

SandDancer said...

There are still tickets left for The WonderStuff if anyone wants to relive those memories!

Roses - you are Neil Diamond fan which more than makes up for not knowing any of these bands.

cogidubnus said...

Did you see Neil on the Nonathon Ross show tonight? While being interviewed he did appear somewhat aged...but performing he was stupendous and immortal...I've seen nothing like it for years...out of this world.

SandDancer said...

No, I missed it unfortunately. A friend send me a text about it too. Think I'll see if its founds its way onto YouTube or if it is repeated.

SandDancer said...

Just watched it now on YouTube. He was brilliant - his voice can still send shivers down my spine and it was a great performance. It was the first time I'd heard that new song and I really liked it so I will definitely get the album now.

Disneyrollergirl.net said...

My tuppence-worth:
The one and only time I saw PS was 3/4 years ago at Shepherds Bush Empire. I was really disappointed as they didn't play any of the great gospelly tunes and had no backing singers. I mean...WTF?! I must say, I'm quite proud of being an old fogey and liking retro music. The last 'modern' CD I bought was probably the Scissor Sisters (1st album) or The Strokes. I'm still listening to my old Joe Strummer, Beach Boys and Jackson Five tapes (tapes!) and loving them!

SandDancer said...

Rollergirl - unfortunately they very rarely play that style of song anymore which is a shame as that is undoubtedly their best stuff. 3-4 years ago, I think they were in the midst of only playing the real noisy agressive stuff and not that well either, so you possibly saw them at their worst.