Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta

The 3 Stages of Barât

And so we made our way back to the old town - well it used to be a town when I last lived in Wolves but now they tell me it's a city, only problem is ever since this dirty shitty wonderful lost place of my childhood became a city its been suffering from depopulation. Is that supposed to happen? I thought city status was supposed to swell the population. Any road up the other big fat truth is that Wolverhampton is the most under qualified City in Britain; it aye were thick 'ere or nothing it's just we aye gorra piece of paper to tell folk wims had some learnin'. (Translation on request).

Yes Wolverhampton by night in the autumn tide; grimy leaves falling onto greasy damp pavements, disparate shadows human in shape darting hither and thither intent on getting somewhere smartish. Like walking through a town just minutes away from a curfew. But as me and the kid made our way through the CITY to the all new SLADE ROOMS I hadn't got SLADE on my mind, oh no, I'd got something completely different going on in my diseased brain box. Just before we got to the venue I said "Come over here our kid". We ducked down Thornley Street. "See this Casino here this is where the LAF used to be, the Club Lafayette, where the Pistols played, where the Slits played, where the Wolverhampton punks Neon Hearts played and many many others. Yeah I know there's nothing to commemorate the place and it's unrecognisable now, but you see these diseased propped up rat infested weed festooned houses, this is where we used to queue back in the day, holding our 20p Club membership cards tightly in our nicotine stained fingers and you see……………. shit that nice young hooded chap has just lobbed a bottle into the road….woops...and again, ha ha ha come along our kid let's get ourselves into The Slade. I blame Thatcher for this sort of thing".

So this is my second gig at the Slade Rooms - the first one was Ed Milliband - and see what happened to him? No they've FINALLY seem to have got it right at the new Little Civic/SLADE ROOMS; the BAR to STAGE ratio compared to the old gaff is absolutely right. The bar now bedecked with many massive pics of DAVE, DON, JIM & NODDY is twice the size of the stage - speaking as a recovering alcoholic I can say wholeheartedly that this can only be a good thing.

Yep some bands get commemorated and immortalised due to premature death and some bands like SLADE & THE SPECIALS get commemorated in their own back yard whilst still living & breathing. What self life would you have given the shaven headed "N'Betweens" in '66 or the head shaven "Automatics" in '76? Two weeks? Six months? And what about tonight's supports how long are they going to be knocking around?

First up are the Nottingham band "Swimming". Yeah, I'm an old person, this much is for sure, and yes even though I've seen this thing coming and coming and coming over the last few years I still don't know how it's happened. Is it the equipment, is it the mindset of these young whippersnappers, I don't know. But there seems to be a never ending succession of bands that seem to start off from day one with a sound that is far too vast. It's like they are setting themselves to bypass the local pub and go straight to the stadiums. Whatever happened to songs simply constructed succinctly sung? Melodies? Whatever happened to humility - apparently those days are gone. This was the problem with "Swimming" yeah they were polished and meshed but the canvas was so gargantuan the soundscape so largesque I was left unable to discern whether there was anything actually being conveyed underneath it all. I blame the DOVES! But hey what do I know? Exactly JACK SHIT - go find out for yourself. SWIMMIng

Next up were "The Heartbreaks" from Morecombe Bay who've already had a certain amount of inane hyperbole scribbled about them by the usual suspects. At least they were a more direct bunch of fellows. OK so they flailed somewhat loosely and unnecessarily around the stage for the popular song they were producing, but there was a bit Johnny of the Marr to be found in the jingly jangling guitar of the young suedehead; and there was a certain amount of Glasvegas melodrama to be had here and there in the song construction. But it was all a bit too SMASH HITS for me, but hey what do I know "The Heartbreaks" could become dangerous. The pastel blue bass would have to go though. Shit I'll give you the money myself. Anyway "you better find out for yourself and then you'll see the price very closely". "The Heartbreaks"

Then without any a do at all up jumped Carl Barat plus 5 to open up with a new one; the chirpy "Je Regrette Je Regrette". And so began the 3 stages of BARAT. With upright bass and cello accompaniment we got most of the new album and some old stuff, the likes of "Death of the Stairs", "Don't Look Back into the Sun" from the Libs; "Deadwood" and "Bang Bang You're Dead" from DPTs. Froid et chaud? Yes - The old gave the assembled the opportunity for several minutes of vertical oscillation - the new for a moment of quiet imbibing. Did everything mesh together? - No not really - There was a bit of shuffling during the quieter offerings - Overall the sea was choppy and the chart had a wavy line and it just isn't right without G A R Y. But where the synchronicity did work it worked.

For me the true 3 stages of BARAT were there for all to HEAR in the troika of "France" from The Libertines, "Truth Begins" DPTs and "She's Something" from the NEW. BARAT with acoustic in hand has always been a different proposition - simple succinct sympathetic song - TARGET HIT. "The Fall" ended the new and "Time for Heroes" ended the old and before we knew it we were back out in the cold and still left wondering, was this the beginning of something? - or just an Interlude? FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF NEXT FEBRUARY

Fri 18 February UEA (University of East Anglia), Norwich
Sat 19 February O2 Academy, Oxford
Mon 21 February Anson Rooms, Bristol
Tue 22 February Concorde 2, Brighton
Thu 24 February Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
Fri 25 February Junction, Cambridge
Sat 26 February HMV Institute, Birmingham
Sun 27 February Manchester Academy (University), Manchester
Tue 01 March ABC, Glasgow
Wed 02 March Leadmill, Sheffield