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A Welcome in the Ill Side
We’ve come to the conclusion that Dr David Davies must have been a big supporter of the Temperance movement when he was alive. Why else would the ghost of Bryngolwg’s former owner be so determined to put the mockers on our gigs?
Our St David’s Day spectacular was called off because of snow. A fortnight later, more snow meant that only a few diehards came to see Dobermann. A fortnight ago, Digital Criminals pulled out of their booking because they’d been struck by the lurgi. As the whole evening was built around their EP launch, it seemed a bit daft to go ahead without them.
Having rescheduled the gig for Friday night, it seemed as though we were on a winner. Hang 11 were returning to Jacs after a successful debut back in December. Rhys Davis, a singer-songwriter from Blackwood, was making his Aberdare debut. Finally, former Catatonia drummer Aled Richards has a new outfit called Beyond the Break, who were lined up as the headline act.
As historians of Welsh music will know, both Catatonia and Tragic Love Company (later Stereophonics) played at the Coliseum, a mile or so up the road, in March 1996. It was the night Kelly and his merry men were ‘spotted’. A gig like Friday’s should have garnered a fair bit of interest. I was hoping for a good turnout, and maybe some press coverage as well. Could lightning strike twice?
Well, of course it bloody did! We found out on Thursday night that Hang 11 were down with the lurgi. I don’t yet know whether it was the same strain that took Digital Criminals down earlier in the month, or if something else is targeting Welsh musicians. On Friday morning I learned that Beyond the Break were also bad in bed and under the doctor. This left Barrie chasing around for replacements. If you’d walked past Jacs on Friday afternoon, you might have heard a sinister chuckle emanating from nowhere. Thanks for nothing, Dr Davies.
Our first substitutes were Who Knows Didley?, a fairly mature quartet with a tight funky rock vibe. Apparently they all worked together before taking time out for family commitments, and are now gigging again. They made it seem effortless, though, as all experienced musicians will when they step back on stage after an extended lay-off. I think fans of more melodic rock bands – even the outliers like the Red Hot Chili Peppers – would have appreciated Who Knows Didley?. But what about the abbreviation? Have you got a WKD side? Is it accident or design? Who knows? I know diddly.
Also stepping off the replacements’ bench was Richard Jones from Fireroad. Richard’s been an enthusiastic and generous supporter of Jacs since the outset. It wasn’t surprising that he’d volunteered his services.
Playing solo acoustic guitar, Richard worked up an interesting set of originals and covers, interspersed with his trademark incisive commentary on the State of Things. I can’t remember his exact words, but he introduced one song along these lines:
‘You stay in the house watching TV every weekend, then you wake up one day and realise you’re sixty years old and you’ve done bugger all with your life.’
(He might not have said ‘bugger’, come to think of it.)
Considering that more people were watching his set on Facebook Live than were there in the flesh, does Richard have a point? Discuss …
Digital Criminals started later than planned. In fact, I think every band this year has started later than planned. I’m tempted to approach Arriva Trains Wales and Stagecoach, to ask if they’ll sponsor the venue. (Although, as I’ve told Barrie on several occasions, if you really want to start late, go to anything organised by Plaid Cymru.)
Digital Criminals are worth waiting for. I was highly impressed with them last time they visited us, and they’re still superb live. With a rock-solid female drummer, two rockin’ lads on guitar and bass, and a fine frontwoman who likes to engage the audience, they really bring something fresh to the Hard Rock genre.
And now people started coming in. I know it’s well over thirty years since I did my Maths A Level, but I don’t think arithmetic has changed in the intervening period. Surely ‘four acts for a fiver’ represents better value than ‘two acts for a fiver’. (Please feel free to correct my calculation, but remember to show your workings.) In fact, I’ll quote a comment which my friend Ian left on Facebook this week, when I shared the Friday night poster:
‘I saw Digital Criminals in Fuel [a rock club in Cardiff] last year. Good band, the lead singer likes a bit of audience participation.’
Well, Ian, if you’re prepared to schelp all the way to Cardiff to see a band, spend a fortune on beer and a taxi home, and rave about them afterwards, why don’t you make the perilous journey on foot from Maesydre and support them when they come to Aberdare?
Energetic, charismatic, exciting and original, Digital Criminals are surely destined for great things. They’re already lined up for a large-ish festival alongside Paul Carrack, the Stranglers, Billy Ocean and the Animals and Friends, among others. On this weekend’s showing, I think they’ll go down a storm. When they’re huge, at least I’ll be able to turn to my friends and say, ‘I saw these when they played in Aberdare. Twice. Where were you?’
On the subject of numbers, I bumped into Wayne from Skacasm in the foyer. He reckoned it ‘wasn’t a bad crowd’ in the music room. The only snag is that most of them were the other bands. I’ve never seen Skacasm fail to fill a place. I think he was just being kind. But he was in the bloody bar anyway. So much for solidarity among working musicians! I know the sun was out today, and most people would have headed straight for the nearest beer garden. But we’ve got a beer garden. (In fact we’ve got two, but only the back one is open in the evenings.) We’ve also got live music. How many pubs in the Cynon Valley can claim to have both?
The trouble with starting late, of course, is that you have to cut yourselves short. That’s what happened with Heavy Flames last week, and it was the likely outcome of Friday’s gig as well. Furthermore, I can only assume that everyone who’d come in through the evening was either in the beer garden or in the bar. The Rhys Davis Band were playing to an almost empty room.
It’s an upbeat indie-pop sound – not exactly in the ‘jangly guitar’ bracket, but it could easily have gone in that direction. If the vocals hadn’t been so far back in the mix, I could have passed comment on the lyrical content. Instead, all we got was a series of rousing chants with no real meaning. I know guitar bands were on their way out in 1962 (famously), and reports of their death have appeared regularly ever since. But this could have been a John Peel session from two decades ago. Or even three decades ago. Maybe they sound better in the studio. I’ll have to borrow Clint’s CD and check them out for myself.
Three guys plodding through a fairly lacklustre set seemed a bit of an anticlimax after Digital Criminals. Should we have tweaked the running order and put the Pontypool rockers on last? I don’t know. Rhys Davis’ style of music wasn’t really ever my scene, and it seems sadly dated now. They’re tight and polished, but they didn’t really grab what remained of the audience either.
No doubt the whole evening would have been better if the bands hadn’t been playing primarily to each other. On Thursday, my good friend Dai C. Thomas, a guitarist and songwriter from Llandeilo, put this status on his Facebook page:
‘Trying to get people to listen to your own original music is like asking them to put their face in boiling acid. They just won’t do it and don’t care for it very much. Well, I enjoy making the music and playing it, even if it is largely ignored.’
Is Dai right?
On Friday’s showing, I’m afraid I’d have to say a big fat resounding YES! But it shouldn’t be that way. I’m with Richard all the way on this one. When you suddenly realise that you’re sixty years old and the only ‘entertainment’ left comes through your TV via Messrs Cowell and Co, don’t come crying to me.
