Jean Genie
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Westworld WeekendWow.. just got back from Westworld 6 and the Theatre Of Hate gig at the Rescue Rooms, Nottingham last night.
It was great to catch up with Spear, TOH, Jay Aston and James Stevenson, The Choke and all the posse. If anyone gets the chance to catch up with Theatre Of Hate this week, please do.. Gigs include Glasgow King Tuts tomorrow night, then they are on to Newcastle, Manchester, Bristol, Portsmouth and London.
I'm too tired to do a full review, but I will definitely be back at Crewe for next year's shennanagans..
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Jean Genie
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Now that I've recovered.. (well sort of).. I'll tell you more about the weekend..
I was due to meet Janet, my Dutch buddy, at Manchester Airport at 8.50am, so I arranged a lift with Keith.. leaving Rainford at 6.30am, to allow time for the rush hour traffic on local motorway routes. We got there quite handy, thankfully the delays were nowhere near as bad as we had expected. However, the flight that Janet was due to be on seemed to arrive with little or no people on it, and the flight number soon disappeared from the screen. I phoned her in a bit of a panic, to find that there had been a strike in Berlin (where she was taking off from) and that she had arrived in London on a later flight than she should have. We made arrangements to meet in Crewe, and that she would get the train there. Thankfully Keith had a meeting in Lymm later that day, not too far from Crewe, and he was happy enough to give me a lift in. After an early lunch I checked into the Royal Hotel, then made my way to the station to wait for Janet's arrival. I hadn't a clue how long the wait would be, as I didn't know what part of London she was in when we spoke.. eg Stansted, Euston etc. However, I didn't have to wait too long, just about an hour or so, and we were gratefully reunited. Oh well, I told her.. this was meant to happen for a reason.. Normally when things start like this, people are in for a memorable time. We had a really good chat at the hotel over a number of cups of tea. We hadn't met since the Alarm/Spear Edinburgh/Glasgow weekend of 25/26 November and we had a bit of catching up to do.
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Jean Genie
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Spear Of Destiny/The Choke - 20 AprilI'm not going to attempt to do a full gig review. But it was great to catch The Choke live. I have only recently heard their stuff on myspace, prior to the tour. I love them though.. Cameron's energy reminds me very much of early Blondie, and the sound is also quite Ramones-like.. They are from New York, and musically you could picture them playing the much missed CBGBs.. Spear were as on form as always.. The expectation in the Limelight was high and they delivered. For those who saw them on their last tour, the set seemed very similar, but no criticism there from me. After the gig, Janet and I were totally shattered so we did the rock and roll thing, and went to our hotel room for a cup of tea before going to sleep.. 
more to follow..
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Jean Genie
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Saturday afternoon..Janet and I decided to walk to the Limelight, and managed to get ourselves lost.. so returned to the train station to catch a cab, to get the venue in time for the afternoon proceedings.. There was a 50 Question Theatre Of Hate quiz.. I got the occasional one right which no doubt helped the Dutch contingent immensely  , put it down to guess work and multi choice answers..
There was also film footage shown from a Bristol gig of some time ago.. Derek was on bass at the time.. Not sure if it was the one I went to when they were on the bill with Gene Loves Jezebel, I thought it may have been an earlier tour.
There was a charity auction that raised about £1500 for children with leukaemia... a stunning amount, and I know that the band were well pleased with the result.
Exclusive new tracks were also played, and if this is what is to come there is plenty of life in Theatre Of Hate yet..
The afternoon finished about 4.30pm so we just had time to catch the footy results, have something to eat, bump into Jay Aston (GLJ not Bucks Fizz, lol) and watch Doctor Who before heading back to the Limelight for the evening gig..
again more to follow..
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Jean Genie
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Theatre Of Hate/Jay Aston & James Stevenson/The ChokeOur friends Duds and Maxine drove us back to the Limelight in the evening, which was just as well after our attempts of finding the Limelight in the daytime, lol.. We turned up before the concert room was open, but it gave us time for a chat and drink beforehand, and I was grateful for a seat in the room when it eventually opened, as I wasn't too sure how mad the moshing was going to get, lol.. (I had heard from the managers at the Royal that there were plans for a long night at the hotel, so I was grabbing every rest I could!!) The Choke were as lively as the first night.. and it is good to see that the crowd had warmed to what they had heard the first night. The mood of music changed from when they were on to Jay/James. Theirs was an acoustic set, beautifully played, and the Jay's vocals were perfect for this. It was a bit of a shame that quite a bit of chat was heard as they were playing, but I guess that's a pitfall of an acoustic set sandwiched between the likes of The Choke and Theatre Of Hate. Still, those who appreciated it, loved it.. The air of expectation for Theatre Of Hate was tangible, and boy did they deliver.. There were a few sound issues that were dealt with early on, but it wasn't long before they were on track. I won't try to list songs, as my TOH knowledge is limited, but I've got to say that this has got to be one of the best bands live I've ever seen, and that is going back some years.. as some here can verify!! I was only too pleased I had bought a ticket for the following night at Nottingham.
As promised, it was a long night in the bar at the hotel after the gig.. I had quite a conversation with Adrian from Spear and Jay Aston about football and other stuff.. something that Jay reminded me of the following night when he made a point of announcing that there was an Evertonian on the front row etc.. (I'll leave his onstage conversation with Janet in the memory bank due to censorship, )
So looking forward to Manchester tonight.. and thankfully there are Dead Men Walking and Spear gigs to look forward to later this year..
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BigTel
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Pleased you enjoyed WW6 Jean Genie !!
Went to the first 4 but aint been @ last 2.
Derek was playing with Spear @ one of them but my memory is fading - think it was 2004 ? - promoting the 2nd version of the Loadestone album which he played on.
Caught TOH @ Newcastle Academy 2 the Wednesday after WW6 - great night (- saw TOH back in 82 when I was a student @ Preston Poly- showing my age !! )
Craig Adams ( ex Mission ) made an excellent deputy for the U.S. exiled Stan Stammers on bass and the set list was the bollox - The Hop,Legion,Westworld,Love Is A Ghost,Nero,Rebel Without A Brain......superb !!
The DVD of the WW Saturday night was on sale - it is excellent !
Took quite a few photos @ Newcastle ( not of Tabnab standards like !! )
- if you are interested I could send you a CD copy of them.
Cheers,
Tel.
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ALI BIN TABNAB
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Ey-up Tel, nice to see ya back on the forum.
Are ye gannin' titha Alarm gig at Newcastle Carling Academy in October then, like...he he. 
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BigTel
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Hiya Tabsi !!
No I'll be giving that a miss - The Alarm are a none-starter for me - suffered Mike Peters with the Dead Men - he wasn't bad - but was well worth it to see Mr.Duffy giving it big lix on classic Cult tracks !!
Maximo Park @ Northumbria 8th May - Manics 15th @ Academy - you going ??
Tel.
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ALI BIN TABNAB
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No Tel. Gannin' on holiday this Sunday so can't do. Funnily enough, I hadn't even heard of Maximo Park until last night when someone mentioned them while I was at work. From Sunderland I hear, sounding a bit like The Jam, and sounding great too.
As for the Manics, I lost a bit interest after the 'Truth' album but would've liked to see them play live. Working that night so al hefta miss out again.
Never mind, looking at the possiblity of the 4GM June gig.
Anyways, let us know how the gigs go me ole son
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BigTel
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Maximo Park's latest album "Our Earthly Pleasures" is excellent !!
New Manics album out next week is getting rave reviews ( that means nowt like !! ) 
Enjoy ya hols bonny lad.
Tel.
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Jean Genie
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Hi Tel..
A CD of photos would be most appreciated. Thanks.
The TOH CDs I have are getting a regular play now.. Fave tracks (apart from the obvious Westworld and Propaganda) are Original Sin and The Hop, but there's nothing I don't like, lol.
I've heard there are some DMW dates in the run up to Nantwich (The Acoustic Festival Of Britain weekend in July) and there are some Spear dates in the autumn.
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