Artist:  Bubble

Venue: The Studio, Hartlepool 

Date:  13 December 2000 

It was cold, it was damp and we were miles from home. We had missed out on seeing Bubble play the night before in our hometown due to a double booking on our part with The Levellers. So we packed our bags and grasped the chance to travel down to Hartlepool to see them play live.

We might have been miles from home but it wasn't anywhere near the distance the band had travelled to play this their very first UK tour.

Ever since the debut album came out in the spring we were keen to keep tabs on what this band were up to. To call them a super group is an understatement. Every single member of Bubble was from a band we knew and loved and had in our music collection.

Here we have a band that comprises such rock greats as Share Ross on vocals - formally of Vixen, Bam on drums - still a member of The Dog's D'Amour, Dino Everett on bass guitar - formally of The Street Walkin' Cheetahs, and last but not least man who never seems to age: Brent Muscat on Guitar - formally of Faster Pussycat.

With a line-up like that what can you expect other than one hell of a band. The very fact that this band is made up with such well known rock artists doesn't give them much space to take things slowly. They all have a lot to live up to before they even start off. Everyone expects them to be one of the best things to hit the rock scene in a long time, but do they manage to carry it off? Well the answer to that is most definitely a big YES!

Not only do they deliver the goods but they make sure that they thrill the fans and captivate their audiences both musically and visually. Their musical delivery is highly professional and the sound is dynamic. In fact it has to be noted that when we listened to the CD while travelling down to see them we both thought it was so good that there was no way they could match the quality.

We thought they would sound OK live. But what a total surprise when they hit the stage to find out that yes the CD was brilliant, but live this band totally blow you away.

It's been a long time since a band has done that to my eardrums. Within minutes we found ourselves thoroughly enjoying the songs and really into what they were doing.

Bubble took to the stage at The Studio around about 9.45 pm after a great warm-up courtesy of support band Nutrajet. After such a magnificent support band like that the fans were ready and rearing to go.

Share took to centre stage with guitar strapped on and looked ready for the onslaught. Looking every bit a rock n' roll Barbie doll in her pink satin trousers and white t-shirt complete with the famous Barbie logo and her hair bright pink and looking fluffy, she was ready for action. She may look soft and girly but once she starts to play that guitar you know why she was awarded that Best Female Rock Guitarist award.

There's not that many female guitarist in the world of rock and even fewer who can actually play to a high standard, but here before us Share proves she means business. Her voice is powerful and never wavers during any of the songs throughout the whole gig.

Starting off with Don't talk to me' taken from the new album the band are straight into the hour long show.

The crowd at the Studio was a bit on the pathetic side to say the least that night, more a case of poor promotion on the venues side than any reflection on the bands talent.

The crowd at The Rio were very much larger and gave the band a proper chance to prove their worth. They played to a packed venue and this time the fans that knew who they were and what they were about. What a difference a different venue and a different night can make.

The Studio saw both Brent and Dino jumping on and off the stage at various stages during the night, it seemed like a good idea and the crowd were appreciative. At one point we even witnessed Brent on the top of a table while Dino was perched dangerously on the top of a balcony railing. What can you say about these two wild men of rock other than good on ya, that's what it's all about.

The Studio saw both Brent and Dino jumping on and off the stage at various stages during the night, it seemed like a good idea and the crowd were appreciative. At one point we even witnessed Brent on the top of a table while Dino was perched dangerously on the top of a balcony railing. What can you say about these two wild men of rock other than good on ya, that's what it's all about.

One of the funniest moments at The Studio were when a heckler thinking he was amusing shouted out for the band to play 'Smoke on the Water', oh yeh very original. I guess all those cheap pints had taken their toll on his brain cell and strained it to think of something to shout. The band laughed at this and Share promptly put him in the picture by telling him that tonight Bubble would only be covering their own material and would not be doing any cover versions. The crowd laughed and even the heckler saw the funny side and decided to shut up and enjoy the rest of the show.

To show what a wicked sense of humour the band have, later on when they were plugging their website ... www.planetbubble.com .... Share also invited people to look at the website for Hartlepool. We were told it was www.hartlepool.com and included lots of beer on it. Once again the crowd lapped this humour up and although probably a more truthful reflection on the state of the crowd that night and their brain cell count, it was said and taken in good spirits.

The show went fantastic at both gigs, in fact the Hartlepool gig gave us such a taste for the band that we went on to see the band again much further from home at The Rio a few days later.

The band should use the song 'Independently Wasted' as their anthem as it's one of the catchiest tunes that they perform and is probably the one that most of their fans at the gigs will remember them by.

We were told that the new CD was hopefully due to be released early next year and that another UK tour would follow after that. I certainly hope so as this tour was the first time we had seen the band on these shores and it sowed the seeds in a lot of peoples mind about the band.

I can't think of a better way to continue on what they have achieved over here during this tour than to come back and blow us all away again.

Setlist included: Don't talk to Me, Independently Wasted, All I Want, Sex Sells, Shake, Black Hole, Slut Motorchopper, Favourite Toy

 

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