overlap

Six days later, I'm parked up again in London. To be honest I probably would have left one of them alone if I'd had to buy both tickets at once, but once again I'm watching something I never thought I'd see. This time my wandering includes the proper tourist detour to Harrods to have a general look around, including that memorial and a good look at some staggeringly expensive and staggeringly impractical shoes. My credit card winced just to be in the same room, and I left before my eyes started to bleed at the prices. With time on my side, I proved I can link up quite a bit of London on foot now, starting via Hyde Park Corner, which looked a bit different to when I was there last watching the Tour de France Prologue. My celeb spotting radar went off as I correctly identified David Gest from behind (should I be worried about my reality TV habit yet?), then I got caught in a fantastic but brief storm around Tottenham Court Road but I got some great pictures in the fantastic light against the wet ground, and some rainbow pictures from the middle of Camden, arriving at the venue in good time after just the one slight route finding error, which was easy enough to correct. When a support band comes on with four out of the five of them wearing hats, you're either watching The Scorpions, or at risk of a duff half hour. In this case it was neither, and it turned out to be a scratch last minute replacement for the real support band; with a blues rock sound reminiscent of the Faces or the Quireboys, it was not that big a surprise to get the Quireboys' Misled, the Jagger/Richards penned Live With Me made famous by Girlschool and a few more in that vein, and in the circumstances they did pretty well - half an hour was short and sufficiently sweet. I first encountered Jason and the Scorchers by name when they supported at the last ever* Status Quo show in 1984. I bought the number 38 UK charting single Shop It Around in 1985, and for one reason and another not a lot else happened. I've got a few albums, I've seen Jason on his own a couple of times, and he's another stunningly friendly, approachable chap but I think this is the first time I've ever had a chance of making it to a full Scorchers band show. * actually not very last ever, as it turned out Warner had already been out during the support slot, generally messing about, but with a new rythm section in place, it's immediately easy to see what Warner's energy adds to Jason's onstage hyperactivity - you could be forgiven for thinking Jason is part Tigger, but in that case Warner is part whirlwind. In a venue that size they were never going to eclipse the WPA show, but they gave it a damn good go. Two hours of full-on country-punk-folk'n'roll must have cost both Warner and Jason a few pounds in sweat, and finally hearing the full rocked up versions of some songs I've lived with for over twenty years is excellent - good things do come to those who wait. Warner (left) and Jason With a curfew-busting finish just after 10.30, I got back to the car in good time to make an earlier than normal start on the road home, and by taking the more expensive route home got in just after 2.15 which is atypically early. There are pictures to follow in a couple of days, and there's a reason why this gig doesn't get a more detailed write-up, in that tomorrow I'm driving twice as far. It's going to be a long day, and it's already past my bedtime now. Wish us luck! Setlist: Absolutely Sweet Marie Cappuccino Rosie Victory Road My Heart Still Stands With You Shotgun Blues Harvest Moon Last Time Around Close Up The Road When The Angels Cry Help, There's A Fire! Ooh Las vegas Shop It Around Hot Nights In Georgia Somewhere Within Pray For Me Mama, I'm A Gypsy Now Drugstore Truck Drivin' Man Bible And A Gun Broken Whiskey Glass If the Money Talks ------- Both Sides Of The Line Great Balls Of Fire ------- White Lies (*from which the post title comes) Lost Highway Honky Tonk Blues

Labels: gigs, Jason and the Scorchers, Jason Ringenberg, Warner E Hodges