Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta

Blondie
Wolverhampton Civic Hall 28th June 2010

The day after the night I saw Blondie at the Wolverhampton Civic, I went to work with my denim jacket smelling strongly of Petuli, Gauloise and Snakebite. An old duffer asked me "What were you up to last night you smell like you've been for a piss up at a bleedin French Bordello". "Nothing" I replied "I stayed in last night". You see back in '79 I'd bark long & loud about going to see The Stranglers, The Damned, The Ruts, The Clash etc. However when you went to see the Boomtown Rats or Blondie or later The Police etc you'd keep pretty damn quite about it. I can't explain why now, its just the way it was. Let's skip to the present.

Hey that roadie guy has got a Steel Pulse T shirt on. He must be American. He probably thinks Steel Pulse are American too. Probably thinks they come from Birmingham Alabama. "Hey roadie guy next time you see David & Selwyn tell them to come home. At least for a bit" Shit he can't hear me. I better take a photo of the back drop now. I daren't take any photo's of DH during the gig. She got pretty pissed about flash photos a couple of years back at the NIA in Brum, stopped the gig and everything. Just like Hugh Cornball of The Shanglers did recently, so let's not go there again.

Shit "Little Fish" are on. An Oxford two piece with ORGAN appendage. Everybody thinks they're wonderful. I don't. But I can't speak about them because they're outside my musical remit. Yep the assembled punters are loving 'em. BUT I AIN'T, COS LIKE I SAID THEY'RE OUTSIDE MY REMIT! The female singer sounds like her mom was scared by Bruce Friggin Springsteen when she was pregnant with her. ROCK ROCK FUCKIN FUCKIN BLAND ROCK. Thank GOD they've gone.

Finally with a new album to play rather than sell The Blonde in spangly black shades, Chris with his holy guitar & Clem in his skinny white jeans did as advertised. Around what must have been most of the forthcoming "Panic Of Girls" album they played "Hanging on the Telephone", "Call Me" the all new Blondie versus Muse "Uprising" version, "Tide is High", "Atomic", "Rapture" as a big fat centre piece, "Maria", "Presence Dear" and closed with (oh really) "Heart of Glass" . All the new material was extremely tight, and thumped home with gusto. And it all sounded very much like Blondie.

Strangely Debbie Harry came to the CIVIC armed with an eight inch black commando knife lashed to her side. I don't think this was for protection. She stood in the wings on a couple of occasions when the boys were doing there ROCK BAND thing. She looked at Clem and fingered the dagger as if she was thinking "if he puts one more drum fill into this ending, this fuckin knife is going in every one of those fuckin skins". Nah come to think of it Blondie wouldn't be so obtuse she'd go straight for the jugular.

So its roll on September and "Panic Of Girls".......in the meantime here's something from way back when.