Band:
Faster Pussycat Venue:
Rios, Bradford, UK Date:
2 February 2002
Who could believe their ears when the news first leaked that Faster
Pussycat were going to tour the UK again after all these years? Not only
that but they were going to play more than a handful of gigs North of the
Watford gap. Glam fans babbled like loons, and in some cases foamed at the
mouth with excitement at the thought of seeing these heroes in action
again.
When they said the new millennium would bring with it great things little
did we realize they meant real live cock rock at it's best in all our
favourite haunts.
We weren't taking any chances with this tour, not only did we go to see
the band at Trillians in Newcastle, but days earlier we packed up our
hairspray and best lippy and ventured down to The Rio in Bradford. Come on
with a band this good would you settle for one gig on their tour? Us
neither!
The scene was set and the crowd was going mental for their heroes. Half of
them off their heads on drink, the other off their heads on drugs. The
front of the stage was a scary place to be I can tell you. The lights went
down and the signature tune from the horror movie the Exorcist boomed out.
Whoah, now I was scared.
The lights came up and the band came on. The crowd went bloody mental at
this point and as they surged to the front I decided to slip out to the
side and save these old bones from being crushed.
It must have been
the best part of 13 years since Taime Down brought his band over to visit
these shores. Way, way too long.
Although we did have the pleasure of seeing the ever-youthful Brent Muscat
last year when he toured with LA glamsters Bubble.
Joining Taime and Brent we had fellow Newlydead members Danny and Chad.
The years have passed by and the line-up has changed ever so slightly but
thankfully the music has not suffered for it. What we had here was pure
p-p-p-p-pussy-power!
The song the band opened with was the only one they could have really. Ask
anyone to name a Faster Pussycat song and what would they say? Bathroom
Wall - of course!
The crowd were screaming and pushing to get closer to the band, the band
looked out at the mass of people below them and smiled, they knew it was
going to work.
They had done the right thing by coming over to play for us here tonight.
The band must have really liked this song as much as their fans because
they played it not just once but twice during their set. They both opened
and closed with it, although the opening version was a darker moodier
version of the song but we loved it all the same.
The favourites came thick and fast and the band and fans lapped up the
atmosphere like cats wolfing down fresh cream. We were total gluttons that
night, we kept wanting more and more.
The hunger for more of this rock with attitude was almost unquenchable.
The band in return kept up with the hits and soon the room was awash with
'Cathouse', 'Don't change that Song' and 'Babylon'. Oh it felt soooo good.
Like zombies we were totally sent with the madness, the music and the
mayhem it brought.
Anyone who thought the band would be all scarves and lip-gloss must have
got a bit of a shock when Taime and Co. came on as they looked more Rob
Zombie than pretty boy pin-ups. Taime looked like he had crawled out of
some dark and dodgy vampire club. Cool look Taime.
Eager to preach his new sounds to the punters the band slipped in a few
Newlydeads songs into the roster. These songs were a bit heavier and
meatier than the typical Faster Pussycat songs but the fans seemed to get
into them quite quickly.
I for one would
like to see Taime bring the band over and tour a few clubs so we could get
a better taste of what their music is all about. Lets face it it's nice to
hear the old favourites but it's always good to hear new and exciting
material.
It was good to hear bassist Danny sing one of his Motorchrist songs in
amongst all this other stuff. Rather surprisingly perhaps to find he does
have a canny set of lungs on him.
A rather touching moment was when the band did the lively 'Shut Up and
Fuck' cover in tribute to the lead singer of Betty Blowtorch who had died
shortly before they came over to tour. The emotions they felt were clear
by the look of sadness on their faces as they introduced it.
Towards the end of the song the stage was invaded by a rather loaded
looking chap who ran over to Taime and grabbed him. The band at first
thought it was just someone wanting to shake his hand and thought he would
then dive back off stage but it wasn’t to be. This bloke was off his head
on something and wasn't going anywhere in a hurry.
As Taime called out to the fans for what song they'd like the band to play
next this chap grabbed to microphone and started to try and sing 'Poison
Ivy'. The band looked uncomfortable and Taime tried to coax the microphone
back so they could continue their set. He said they wouldn't be doing that
song as they couldn't remember the words.
The 'fan' was having none of it and refused to give up the microphone and
once more started to warble out the song to the crowd. Taime looked really
worried at this point, he had looked into the chaps eyes and seen a psycho
look back out at him. The band backed away and looked urgently around for
some sort of bouncer or venue security to come on and get this nutter off.
Was I the only one that was genuinely worried for the band at this point
and wondering where the hell the venues security staff were? To say it
went on longer than it should have done was an understatement and quite
shocking when you think about it.
This nutter was a loon of the highest level and could have quite easily
pulled a knife on the band. Thankfully he didn't and eventually he was led
off-stage.
After this the band looked visibly shaken by what had happened and seemed
to lose their momentum for a while. During the closing rendition of
'Bathroom Wall' another chap took to the stage and ran across before stage
diving into the crowd.
This time the band's eyes were on his straight away and they weren't
taking any risks. Neither were the crowd and at seeing this portly young
chap heading towards them at great speed they parted and a very loud bang
echoed around the room as he slammed down onto the hard wooden floor.
The place erupted and even the band seemed to instantly loosen up at the
sight and sound of this. Serves him right the pratt.
Fingers crossed it won't be too long before they venture back over to tour
again. If you didn't get to see them on tour this time, make sure you get
tickets for the next tour.
They gave us their all and in return we gave them our utter devotion.
Setlist:
Bathroom Wall
Where's there's a Whip
Cathouse
Slip of the Tongue
Don't change that Song
Motto
Little Dove
Sleeping Pill
Submission
You're so Vain
House of Pain
Babylon
I for one would
like to see Taime bring the band over and tour a few clubs so we could get
a better taste of what their music is all about. Lets face it it's nice to
hear the old favourites but it's always good to hear new and exciting
material.
