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Once again
Trillians comes up trumps and gives the hoards of rock fans their
regular dose of decent rock. Who would have ever thought it that the one
and only Mr CC Deville would grace our local? Well tonight he did just
that and he brought along a bunch of friends more commonly known as the
fabulous Samantha 7 along with him.
I tell you no word of a lie when I say that this place was buzzing with
excitement, no one could actually believe that the band was actually
gonna appear on stage tonight. Rockers old and new are squashed into
every corner in the hope of glimpsing a look at these rock n' roll
icons.
It's been a long time since that much hairspray and jewellery had been
worn by so many of the male population in Newcastle as we saw before us
tonight. You could easily be mistaken into thinking you had gone back in
time to the wild 80's when outrageous was just another way of dressing.
The faces might be a little older in the crowd but the passion they felt
for glam in the 80's is very much alive tonight.
The band took to the
stage at about 9.30 pm. We were slightly disappointed to find that there
was to be no support band. Which would have been extremely easy to fill
as most people would have given their right arm to play as support to
these guys. They would have paid them for the privilege.
Still we were here to see Samantha 7 in all their glory so that didn't
spoil the night. The band took to the stage with an uproar of clapping
and whistling from the fans. Before our very eyes we had CC Deville less
than 2 feet away from our faces. To say they feeling overall was one of
shell shocked excitement is an understatement. I don't think many of us
could really comprehend the might of this man in front of us, who for so
many years had been our hero, and had tonight come to play for us
onstage.
Samantha 7 are one of the hottest bands around. Their debut album which
came out last year and until recently has only been available on import,
is an absolute stomper. CC or Cecil as he is now called, greeted the
crowd of hungry fans and the band launched straight into the first song
of 'Hollywood & Vine'.
The crowd keep their distance from the front of the stage, still
transfixed by the band and it's lead singer. CC sensing this stops the
song for a moment and tells them to get on up to the front, he tells us
he wants to see us up at the front with him. The crowd eagerly shuffle
forward and look up in awe at this man giving them orders.
Soon the whole place was singing along to the songs and both the band
and their followers were all having a good time. It's quite surprising
how many of the fans actually know all the words to the songs. They were
all more than willing to sing along with the band.
After 2 songs we had a lovely little story from CC about the song
'Framed'. He tells us that he wrote this as an excuse for his bad
behaviour. He told us he had been dogging about and his girlfriend found
out and really wasn't happy about it at all. The song is an explanation
of how he tried to wriggle out of the blame for what he had done. He
said he was forced into it and didn't want to do it, hence the title
'Framed'. He knew what he had done was wrong and was sorry, well sorry
to have been caught out.
The band then launched into the song while the crowd were still laughing
and 'bonding' with this bad boy of rock and his escapade tales. It was
during the opening lines to this song that a voice was heard from the
crowd shouting ' Krys I want your babies!', whether he heard or not I'm
not sure but if he did it must have made him laugh.
The next song 'Famous' also had a little introduction to it. We were
told that is all that CC ever wanted to be, he wanted to shout out, look
at me, hey I'm famous! Well we already knew he was famous as the
guitarist in Poison, and if tonight's show is anything to go by,
Samantha 7 are going to be as famous as well. Cecil really knows how to
play a crowd and read their needs for tales and tunes. He plays them
better than the guitar that is strapped to his front and that takes some
doing. Geordie crowds are not usually known to take to new bands in
quite such a spectacular fashion.
On the right hand side of the stage we had the extremely talented Mr
Krys Baratto, complete with new patchwork trousers that looked
fantastic. On drums we had Derek St Homes guesting and on to the left on
guitar we had Ty Babylonia. Francis Ruiz has left the band and it is
hoped that this arrangement is only temporary.
CC really didn't seem to Gel with this new drummer at all. For a large portion
of the set he kept having a go at him for playing too loud, too slow,
too quiet, too fast, no matter how hard he tried this man could not make
CC a happy man. The crowd didn't really care about what the drummer was
sounding like, they loved the band and the show and wouldn't have
noticed if he wasn't the same as Francis, but CC did and he clearly
wasn't happy about it. Come back Francis and save his sanity please!!!
Next up we had another big favourite with the fans ... 'Slave Laura'.
Again before they started we had another tale to be told from CC. It
soon became apparent that what you hear in the songs are really true
life experiences from his life as a rock star. Oh what fun they were to
hear as well.
Laura we were told was a former girlfriend of CC's. He said she was
always about during the day but never around at night. He got suspicious
and soon he found out his girlfriend was a dominatrix no less! He said
he loved her but she used to cut him with razors on his chest and them
put clips on his 'titties' (his words not mine).
Eventually they finished and he never heard from her since. But went on
to say 'Laura if you are out there honey, I miss you come back to me!'.
This has probably got to be one of the funniest introductions I've ever
heard to a song, complete with actions. This is what makes this man a
true gem to watch live in concert. He is the man!
The set took us through another 2 songs before we were told it was
Poison Karaoke time! The crowd looked a bit nervous at this and waited
for more information to be given. The whole room was then invited to
join the band onstage to sing some Poison songs with them, which on a
stage that size is quite some feat.
Well not everyone could fit on but there were plenty who did.
Surprisingly enough you would expect to see all females clambering up
there, but no it was the male members who worshipped the ground CC
walked upon that were to take the stage by storm. For every 5 male fans
you had 1 female fan, they couldn't get on to be honest, not with all
these lads rushing onstage.
The stage groaned under the weight as a very crowded stage started to
belt out 'Look what the cat dragged in', an all time favourite anthem
for Poison. Krys and Derek disappeared behind the sea of fans and Ty
took refuge in the back corner out of the way. The fans loved every
second of it and thought that once it had finished that would be it, but
no, CC invited more people to come onstage and asked who knew the words
to 'Nothing but a good time'.
Local glam fan Simon raised his hand and actually looked like he
belonged in the band as he was every inch the image of a glam rock star.
He was handed the microphone and soon we were off again.
It might have been a long time since this particular song was played in
the clubs but this fan knew all the words and did the band proud. In
tune and in time he led the hoard of fans through the song.
Afterwards CC said that Simon was the man and that he should be the lead
singer instead of him as he did a better job and could remember all the
words. He even teased him about keeping him in tune when he had hit a
duff note on his guitar. The room was in uproar at this.
It might have been a long time since this particular song was played in
the clubs but this fan knew all the words and did the band proud. In
tune and in time he led the hoard of fans through the song.
It was then you
realised that this night would remain etched on everybody's memories for
a great many years as one of the best nights out ever. Andy Warhol once
said that everybody has 15 minutes of fame in their life, well for Simon
it might not have been 15 minutes, but this would be the moment he will
carry with him to his death bed.
The show rounded off with 'Talk dirty to me', another Poison favourite
which saw a wave of satisfaction go though the crowd. A young female fan
tried to catch CC's eye by flashing her bare boobs at him, but he was so
high on the atmosphere I don't think he even noticed. A few of the male
fans onstage did and that probably helped make their night even more
memorable.
We had come to see this band in concert and they had done us proud. They
had given us a show to remember and for once they had actually invited
us to partake of the show. Never before have we seen this in Trillians.
Each and every fan felt that for one night only, by doing the Poison
Karaoke they had been a part of the band and not just a fan. What a
wonderful idea to do this in a show.
Then far too soon the show ended, it was only an hour earlier that the
band had come onstage. I realise they only have one album out, but we
really would have loved it if they had come back out for an encore and
done another 3 songs off the album.
Overall the show was great, well worth the money and next time around
the band are guaranteed another packed room at this venue. Not only that
but a few of the fans there will probably be more likely to go to some
of their other gigs as well in other areas.
Cecil, Krys, Derek and Ty, we love you, we really do. Thank you so much
for making us happy and coming to see us. Please make sure you come back
again when the new album is released.
Setlist:
Hollywood and Vine, Hanging onto Jane, Framed, I wanna be Famous,
Slave Laura, I hate every bone in your Body, Cover Girl, Look what the
cat dragged In, Nothing but a good Time, Talk dirty to Me
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