A Trip to London – 2007
The Wild West has been quiet lately. No blogs, no podcasts, for the last month or two. No shows for the past year and a half. All of that is changing now. A Podcast will be here by the weekend, and blogs well we have a bunch of stuff to write about too. And shows. . .well we announced last week the show at Barney McNabbs in Yonkers in March. Right now that is five bands and do not be surprised if we bring one or two others into the fold!
But all of this is not what we are writing about here. Nope not at all.
No, today we look to something completely different. Well not that different, but different.
Last week I flew into London and checked out the CliveAid show, featuring Elixir, Headrush, SackTrick, and Guy-McCoy-Torme. For the last four years I have been working to bring Bernie Torme over to the US for a tour. I always said that if I could not bring that to fruitiion, that I would have to go over to the UK and at least check out one of his shows over there. so that is what I did.
It was not just an amazing show but night, starting with Headrush, I believe an up and coming metal act in the UK. They certainly set the stage in Walthamstow that night. They were followed by Elixir, which apparently was a band that Sam Hill, the Promoter behind CliveAid was drummer for at some point. Now Elixir apparently has a place in the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) and we are talking the wave of 1980. but they kept things going and had a special gues come out ahelp them out near the end of the set – Paul Dianno, the original Iron Maiden vocalist, who did the Maiden classic Running Free with them.
Cliveaid is very much a Maiden event. It started as a charity for the Clive Burr Foundation. Clive Burr was the original Iron Maiden Drummer, who today is dealing with MS. This show was in fac a birthday for Clive who was there too, And this show was actually going to benefit Teenage Cancer Patients, so it was for a good cause too.
The thing that I found myself thinking was L’amours 1985. It has just been a long time since I thought much about Iron Maiden, L’amours, and that vein of metal, much less a venue rocking like all of that. You don’t find that or at least i don’t find that type of sound in NYC. And I don’t even mention all the long-haired dudes packed in there – it just brought me back to vintage L’amours! It was a cool vibe.
So it brought me back to my roots and then add a GMT set. How could I lose? There was no way that this could not have been a great night! GMT jumped into Wild West and then Ball and Chain, and then onto several tracks from their first album, before wrapping up with Smoke on the Water. Mr Torme with his blue Strat that I believe Ozzy gave him on the left, and John McCoy, bald headed and bearded on the right and Robin Guy behind them just working hard and enjoying every moment of it.
Of course the solos were just amazing. The best part was when they just jammed a bit, something i rarely see and something that I usually am not racing to. Sorry – Jam bands just do not grab me. there are exceptions to everything and considering the chemistry of this band, and knowledge of what Bernie can do on a guitar, how could I not enjoy such experimentation. Summerland and Down to Here were both just amazing as far as where they went.
the last act was Sacktrick, which was Robin Guy’s band. A bit of Zappa, a bit of humor, and excellent musicians thru and thru, and the last song had them joined by Bruce Dickinson, who a few minutes before i had the pleasure of running into if only I knew it at the time. . .
Anyway, that is my view a few days after the jetlag, the countless trips to the tube, and the wanderings thru London. I can’t wait to do it again!
Bob Schaffer
