Read the Fanzine at Bar Monsta, Camden on
Friday 1st December 2006
Lineup: The Thought Criminals, K*** and the Gang, Weightloss and The Filthy Tongues
The Thought Criminals Myspace Page
K*** And The Gang (Over 18s) Myspace Page
Weightloss Myspace Page
The Filthy Tongues Myspace Page
Instead of cancelling the Dublin Castle gig, Tris offered to take it over. Ah ha, a bit of healthy competition - whose night would be better?
But it was always going to be hard to follow the successs of that first night at Bar Monsta - there just aren't that many 10 grand a night corporate tribute bands with over a decades experience behind them willing to play in their side project for 50 quid.
Deathstar Preview were one of the elite bands who can attract a crowd but aren't big enough to want silly money/riders etc.
And The Smiths is one of the few bands I'd like to see a tribute of. I mean much as I loved The Cure and The Cocteau Twins, I can't imagine a tribute to either really working.
But I decided to play it safe and not experiment too much.
We'd seen The Thought Criminals headline a gig at Underworld in Camden a couple of weeks after The Leather Exchange gig. It was £7 to get in on a Sunday night and the venue was packed.
The 1st support was a ska band called Weightloss. They were really good, and importantly the same people were going mental to both bands, and kirlian said they were always keen to play gigs.
So I booked both bands to play in the hope that they would bring a decent crowd.
I'd been a big fan of Goodbye Mr Mackenzie back in the mid 80s ever since I saw them play The Rattler on The Chart Show, Indie Week (with Shirley Manson on backing vocals - much better than the later release on Parlophone).
The core of the band were in a new band called The Filthy Tongues with a new lead singer. Their songs on their myspace sounded great so I couldn't wait to book them for the night.
Of course it took a bit of organisation on their part to come down to London from Edinburgh, and I didn't have much of a budget, but after months of hoping they would come down, they agreed to come and play.
Alas, to keep travelling costs to a minimum, they decided to take the train and I asked the other bands to do some equipment share. That worked out ok, but it did mean that The Filthy Tongues had to go on first, which was a travesty as they really should have headlined.
As a bit of a curveball, I'd been looking at comedians when we were in the Leather Exchange, turning the night into a sort of modern day variety show. I'd been keeping an eye on an act called "K*** and the Gang" who had "single of the week" in NME.
Most of his songs are about masturbation and he comes on stage to a Gary Glitter backing track and gets out a fake penis. Highbrow he's not.
But I figured it was the Christmas night, right at the start of party season, people had just been paid, so the night was to kick off with a criminally under exposed experienced band, followed by some good time Ska, a few songs about masturbation and finish the night Leather Exchange style with a tongue in cheek lyric good time party band.
Well that was the idea!
It was great to meet The Filthy Tongues being a long time fan of Goodbye Mr Mackenzie. Just a shame that equipment share meant they had to go on first instead of headlining as they should have.
There was a good crowd by the time that The Filthy Tongues took to the stage and played a blinding set.
Live at Read the Fanzine, Bar Monsta
Once they finished, a number of people who had obviously just come to see them, started to leave. Once Weightloss came on stage they were plagued by equipment problems and more and more people left.
By the time Mr Gang came on, there was still an ok sized crowd, but it was quite sparse. Though there was a smile on practically everyone's face in the room for most of his set, with the notable exception of Mick who demanded that it be cut short.
By the time The Thought Criminals were ready to play, there was hardly anyone left to play to. They'd played in the Dublin Castle the week before so chances are their fans and mates went to see them there instead.
All in all what started off as a good night, ended up as a complete anti-climax, not to mention a big financial loss and not exactly getting in the venue's good books.
Read on: December at Dublin Castle, Camden