Band: B Movie Heroes Venue: The Office, South Shields, UK Date: 16 July 2001
After blowing the cobwebs away from our eardrums at Changes One record
store this afternoon the band are back once more to cause us some serious
sensory harm.
The crowd was already hyper after seeing the magnificent Johnny Zhivago
only minutes before play a storming set. Now it was the turn of these
cheeky rascals.
The stage was still in darkness as they started out with what sounded very
much like Kashmir.
In darkness we could see Neil finishing his fag before he was ready to
play. The lights did come on and before us we saw the usual suspects,
grinning like cheeky monkeys and keen to get started.
'Science Fiction' was the track they started the gig with properly and
within seconds it had Dave jumping up and down looking like someone had
stuffed a ferret down his pants.
Peering out from behind the drum kit at the back of the rather poorly lit
stage was the ever-youthful looking Scott.
In front of him we saw a man who seems always looks cheerful,
singer/guitarist Dean.
Last but not least was of course Neil who had by this time finished his
fag and looked tonight very much like a little rock hopper penguin with
his short spiky haircut.
Onward bound and into the second song of the night we had 'The Drug That
You Want'. It was Dave's turn to sing lead vocals on this one. With it's
hard rock-a-billy riffs it was really driven throughout the whole song by
the pounding on the drums from the back of the stage.
They thanked all the people who had turned up at Changes One that
afternoon and hoped they had all enjoyed themselves. I guess they must
have otherwise they wouldn't have turned out in force tonight and brought
all their pals along with them.
Just goes to show you how impressed they must have all been to have wanted
to come back tonight for more of this good stuff. Good to know we aren't
the only ones to think these guys are marvellous.
'Give Me Tuesday' was the next one and we saw the lovely Dean take over
the vocals during this one. You have to hand it to these guys they all
have wonderful singing voices as well as being brilliant musicians.
By now there were hoards of young fans dancing about in front near the
stage. One young lad wearing a 'Britney Spears' t-shirt, (Well not an
official fan club one anyhow, a wee bit near the knuckle), caught the
bands eye and had the next song dedicated to him.
They had only just started to play the first few chords when a string
broke on one of their guitars. Luckily for us they had super roadie Chris
Jarvis from Spunge on hand to change it for them in lightening quick time.
(Now you know who the brightly coloured van parked outside belonged to).
Once fixed they launched into the song with full gusto.
They joked that there would be bingo on afterwards if anyone wanted to
stop back. I think they had realised Monday night is largely student night
at this venue.
Before long they reached my favourite track, the very addictive and easy
to remember the words … 'The Image', taken from their single.
If you haven't already got it then you really want to get your finger out.
It's marvellous! At this point they proclaimed that they were going to have
a dancing competition for the hoards of fans that were bopping, hopping
and moshing (?) around the dance floor.
Not sure what the prize was going to be or who in fact won it but the fans
took up the challenge and gave their legs a good old shake.
After that came the famous … do do do song. No not Black Lace! 'Damned If
You Do'! . A few of the younger females had clambered onto the stage by
this time and were having a frenzied bop next to the band.
Next one up was 'Running On Empty' a song all about being in a band and
having no money perhaps?
One young woman asked them to dedicate a song to Anti Product who have
played this venue so many times recently it has become a bit of a second
home to them. 'Miles Away' was the chosen track.
Strangely enough the dancers had all sat down at this point. Probably too
hot and totally knackered from having such a great time. Actually I think
it was probably last orders at the bar.
Neil asked why no one was dancing and asked was it chucking out time and
did they have school in the morning? It was Dean's turn to break a string
during this song and once again Chris had to work his wonders.
Before long the dancers were back, fast, furious and watered, they were
back for some more fun.
With the stage full of fans now there was not enough room for the band to
play on.
Dave and Neil decided to take off from the stage and play off on the dance
floor, which did in fact have more room to move on than the stage! Well it
did when they first moved there but then a second wave of young men
descended from nowhere and it all turned into a bit of a mosh pit, which
went bezerk!
The closing song was 'Million Miles An Hour' and saw Dave hanging on to
his mike for dear life while still trying to play his guitar.
Phroaw! What more can we say except tonight's gig was fantastic. The band
really looked like they had bonded with the fans and their new found fans
were clinging to them like limpets.
They could have gone on playing all night and we would have still come
back for more. I have a funny feeling that it won't be long before we see
them up here again and I think this is the venue they will be choosing on
future tours.
They came, they conquered, and they better come back quick or there will
be hell to pay!
Setlist included:
Science Fiction
The Drug
Give Me Tuesday
Simplicated
The Image
Damned If You Do
Running On Empty
Miles Away
Million Miles An Hour
