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If you thought that
weekdays were just another day at the Office, think again. We went for
an adventure down to the seaside town of South Shields in the North East
of England, for an afternoon of musical indulgence at Changes One.
They were having another day of entertainment with two bands playing
live to the fans that had shown up especially to see them. And to the
normal man on the street who happened to be walking past and fancied a
gander into the shop to see what all the noise was about!!!
First up was Essex based band Johnny Zhivago. These guys have been
making quite some noise for about a year now, gradually gaining acclaim
wherever they play and definitely getting a good name for themselves in
the music world.
They are also recruiting a small number of groupies, which shows like
all the big bands, that they are gathering quite a following.
Johnny Zhivago are one of those bands that you don't quite know what
sort of music to expect. They look like a cross between the Great Gatsby
and Duran Duran, with their "cherry ice-cream smiles" and
their dapper pinstriped clothes. But whatever thought may cross your
mind, these guys can really belt out the tunes.
They played a really powerful and catchy set. They just want to make
music and have fun with it. They can really play and make a good rock n
roll sound with a twist of "pop". Iggy Pop and the Stooges
that is. (If you like Iggy's stuff you'll love these guys).
They gave a positively excellent performance in the shop, thumping out
songs like "21st Century Bitch", "No Compromise",
"You Don't Get, You Give, You Get What Your Given" and the
fantastic foot stomper "Rocket 69" from their CD
"Terminal Boredom". (New album out September called "Some
of the People All of the Time")
These guys are great to watch they have a good rapport with each other
on stage and get some good jamming sessions in between the songs. They
are definitely a band to look out for in the near future.
Next up for the afternoon session was The B Movie Heroes. Dean and Neil
clambered onto the stage first to give us some acoustic jollies between
the pair of them. They sang three or four songs, including an amazing
country and western style, ditty about smoking "herbs"!!!
The rest of the band decided to join in the party on the stage after
this, and they all got down to some seriously fun, rock n roll, with a
soopy twist of zingy lemon.
These fellas have got some brilliant tunes up their sleeves. They are
well thought out catchy melodies with equally as good catchy lyrics. So
much so I even found I was singing one at work the next day.
We were treated to some fantastic delights like "Science
Fiction" sung by Neil (guitarist and lead vocals), and "The
Drug That You Want" sung by Dave (bassist and vocals) and then
"Give Me Tuesday" sung by Dean (guitarist and vocals).
This band has got to be one of the luckiest around having three guys in
the band that all have fantastic voices. You really don't get that too
often.
Other highlights were "Damned If you Do", "The
Image" (which is a favourite of ours) and new song "Running On
Empty" which will be available to buy on CD exclusively at Changes
One.
For a grand finally Danny McCormack joined them on stage for a version
of "Wipeout" which was superb and "Money". Danny
looked great and it was nice to see him playing bass again with fellow
Yo-Yo, Neil.
Both bands were sparkly, fizzy, good and were emphatically enjoyed by
the fans and the street people!!! "Come back soon guys cos we think
your grrrrreeeeeeaaatttttttt" .
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