BLACK SPIDERS, Hawk Eyes, Baby Godzilla @Academy 3, Birmingham 8/10/13

Around 18 months ago RTM saw Baby Godzilla open for Ginger just up the road at The Asylum. As part of the show the drummer hung upside down from a beam and they were a genuinely terrifying experience.

The Nottingham mob are back again doing this for the Black Spiders and in that time not much has changed. One guitarist is on the venue floor, the singer/guitarist is on the bar and the drummer, although he remain upright this time, removes his drums from the stage on one occasion. You may have spotted a pattern here. When you talk about Godzilla you don’t talk about the music, you talk about the antics, and that, perhaps is why they do it. Musically, they are rather forgettable hardcore, but mix the whole thing together and it becomes rather unsettling. See them live once, but leave it at that.

Hawk Eyes were last in these parts supporting Therapy? And then – as now – the Leeds mob seem to lack something that will elevate them from support band status. There is nothing wrong with
them but at the same time there is nothing you want to shout about either. Once known as Chickenhawk, they had a couple of catchy songs, not too dissimilar from tonight’s headliners, called “I Hate This, Do You Like It?” and “Serpico” disappointingly they play neither track this evening, but they do seem to go down reasonably. Again, if we are being honest, they are not a band that is ever going to be one of our favourites.

That cannot be said for Black Spiders. Right from the moment when we saw them support The Wildhearts next door four years ago, we have bored everyone we possibly could with them. Their early EP’s were quite brilliant, the “Sons of the North” record that followed it was quite outstanding and they have followed it with This Savage Land, which gratifyingly still sounds like Motorhead fighting the Wildhearts in a drunken brawl.

Lead track from this “Knock You Out” kicks us off this evening like a boot to the face, before a fabulous “Stay Down” follows. Thus the pattern is set, the next 75 minutes is largely split half and half between classic old material and soon-to-be classic new stuff, so “Kiss Tried To Kill Me” is still simultaneously dumb, stupid and insanely catchy, mixes with “Balls” from the “…Land” opus, which is simultaneously dumb, stupid and….well you get the picture.

A glorious hour or so is brought to a close by “What Good’s A Rock Without A Roll” which means 250 people get to scream “Eat thunder, shit lightning” at the top of their voices, and whichever way you look at it, that is pretty cool.

The band might have dreams of playing Wembley, but are realistic enough to still have other jobs, and the fact that, to be honest, they are doing this for fun shines through. A few years ago Black Spiders were voted the best underground metal band in Britain. No longer (totally) underground, they are now just one of Britain’s best bands. Full stop.

THERAPY? Hawk Eyes @Academy 2, Birmingham 23/11/12

When last we saw Hawk Eyes it was the Ginger Christmas show last year. We said the Leeds band were “blessed with a couple of very fine songs indeed.” We stick by that theory, but for whatever reason they choose not play them this evening.

Indeed, to be frank, Hawk Eyes look bored to be on stage. Whether it’s a first night of the tour thing, or that the crowd appears indifferent to them, who knows. The fact is though that most of the excitement seems to have gone from their show.

As you might expect from a band that changed its name, the band appear to not be quite sure what they want to be. “Headstrong” is the pick of the set, but it never approaches the levels they managed 11 months ago.

In contrast to see the seemingly restless support band, Therapy? Have always known exactly what they wanted to be, and it wasn’t famous. Their Wiki page says they have sold 2 million records, but it doesn’t say that most of these were in the 90s, with the “Troublegum” “Nurse” and “Infernal Love” records they were frequently in the singles charts and frequently in the magazines. The trouble with this was simple. Andy Cairns and his mates had artier ambitions; they simply wanted to play the music they liked. And, for most of the 21^st century, that’s exactly what they have done.

Happily, although the limelight has dimmed, the fans remain onside and the Academy 2 is near full when the band almost sheepishly make their way onstage. Dressed in suits, they look for all the world like the cast of “Reservoir Dogs” when a cover of Joy Dvision’s “Isolation” kicks things off.

The early curfew means a slightly shorter set, but no one can feel shortchanged as over 20 songs are fired out in a 90-minute concert. New album “A Brief Crack Of Light” is well represented with its brooding opener “Living In The Shadow Of A Terrible Thing” perhaps the closest thing they have to their 90s sound.

They have lost none of their mischievous nature, either. “Die Laughing” is dedicated to the recently deceased Clive Dunn and “Before You, With You, After You” beginning with a snippet of “I Never Promised You A Rose Garden.”

Along with the batch of new songs there is plenty of looking back, too. “Stop It Your Killing Me” “Teethgrinder” and “Stories” sound as fresh as ever despite being almost 20 years old.

Suits are gone for the encore and the classics are out. “Screamager” and “Nowhere” mix alongside a cover of “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “Potato Junkie” finishes things, surely the only song in history to feature “James Joyce is fucking my sister” as its key line. And guess what? That’s the line Therapy choose to make a sing-a-long out of. What else should you expect from a band that appeared on Top of the Pops with a single that began with the couplet “let me try on your dress/it turns me on when we’re a mess. “?

They don’t play that song – “Loose” - tonight, but what they did play was excellent. Truly reinvigorated Therapy? Are a band that haven’t sounded this good in years. Being a deliberate cult band never sounded so much fun.

GINGER AND FRIENDS, Hawk Eyes @Wolves Wulfrun 15/12/11

Even if, like me, you think the only good thing about Christmas is the four football matches that come in ten days there are certain traditions that have to be upheld at this time of year.

So along with lying my out of my work’s Christmas do and generally not doing anything remotely sociable there is the Ginger Christmas show.

It used to be Wildhearts Christmas Show but those days – for now at least – appear to be over, so the Ginger Christmas show is the next best thing.

First though, Hawk Eyes and the Leeds band acquit themselves reasonably well. Blessed with a couple of very fine songs indeed, in the Groop Dogdrill-esque “Scorpieau” and the post-hardcore romp of “I Hate This Do You Like It?” the band formally known as Chickenhawk are a decent way to spend half an hour waiting for Ginger.

One day the history of the man known to his mother as David Walls will be written (indeed RTM would love to do it if anyone so desired…) and as such there is not time or space to list his achievements and misdemeanors over the last 20 thrilling years.

What is certain, though, is that with the Wildhearts and his various offshoots Ginger has excited us, thrilled us, left us baffled, annoyed us, deliberately anatagonised us …and left us with a collection of the finest music ever made.

He has also kept a loyal hardcore following, most of whom rabidly and slavishly buy his records – and that is what tonight is about. This is Ginger (and Friends) preaching to – and celebrating with – the converted.

And boy, does he have a lot of friends! The band is a six piece. Long time companions Denzil and Jon Poole are there on drums and bass respectively. They are joined by Black Halos/Loyalties man Rich James, Chris Catalyst both playing guitars and a woman called Ingrid who dances and sings backing vocals. The rather chaotic look to all this is topped off by Mr. Wildheart himself wearing Kiss make up for the first few songs. Drink, you suspect, has been taken. It could be an odd night.

The vibe coming from this tour is to expect the unexpected. Not just the Wildhearts greatest hits that these shows sometimes become. Even allowing for that when the band take to the stage to the opening strands of “Inglorious,” It’s still something of a shock. They won’t play the whole thing, surely? They do. And they follow it with “The Hard Way.” This is not just Ginger going through the motions with some mates; this is a night for the anoraks like me to rejoice.

And we do just that for 85 glorious minutes as B sides (“Can’t Do Right For Doing Wrong”) mix with seldom played stuff like “Splattermania,” “Something Weird (Going On In My Head) and “Inner City Overture.”

There are some of the staples played, of course, with “Vanilla Radio” as chirpy as ever, a fluffed “Suckerpunch” and a closing one-two of “29X The Pain” and “I Wanna Go Where The People Go,” while “This Revolution Will Be Televised” is transformed into a sing-a-long about You Tube sensation Fenton the dog.

Tonight is Ginger and Friends having fun, taking chances and its all the better for it. If we must usher in the festive season we might as well do it like this.