Monday, May 20, 2013
Midnight at the Oasis
The overwhelming success of my press release regarding the imminent arrival of Midnight Messiah's debut album led on to another assignment gratefully received by yours truly. I am to attend a boozer located in the far from salubrious Maryland district of Stratford, lick the tip of my pencil, and scrawl down a few words on the debut performance of Midnight Messiah at the Cart and Horses.
So far so good. But why do several friends of mine start warning me that this isn't a place to wander around after dark, and to keep all valuables and jewellery out of sight? Gulp! I'm starting to worry for my propelling pencil!
And it is fair to say calling both Marlyand and the pub a dump would be doing a disservice to dumps. Shithole perhaps comes closer to the mark, and even in daylight the, thankfully short, walk from the tube station to the pub is a nerve wracker. The pub is definitely the infected sore on the arse of a particularly dirty tramp, but once inside, it doesn't improve. A pool table has pride of place in front of the stage, a stage which to call it small and bijou would put the wrong impression in your mind to how big it is. How five strapping blokes and all their gear will fit up there is beyond me. The floor is sticky and the pub has a peculiar odour thar is part sweat, part piss and part chip fat. Other than that it's a lovely place to start a career, and it did ok for Iron Maiden didn't it?
Despite all this, they do both types of wine, red and white, with a bottle of girly stuff hitting the scales at a mere £8, about the price of a couple of pints in the city, and so at least drowning out the surroundings is cheap. It's also nice to note that as gig time approaches the "venue" starts to fill up with some friendly faces which is a relief given the liveliness of some of the locals.
Fortunately the gig goes without a hitch, and the next morning I find, covered in spilt wine and footprints, the below review of the gig:
Cart & Horses , Maryland
So far so good. But why do several friends of mine start warning me that this isn't a place to wander around after dark, and to keep all valuables and jewellery out of sight? Gulp! I'm starting to worry for my propelling pencil!
And it is fair to say calling both Marlyand and the pub a dump would be doing a disservice to dumps. Shithole perhaps comes closer to the mark, and even in daylight the, thankfully short, walk from the tube station to the pub is a nerve wracker. The pub is definitely the infected sore on the arse of a particularly dirty tramp, but once inside, it doesn't improve. A pool table has pride of place in front of the stage, a stage which to call it small and bijou would put the wrong impression in your mind to how big it is. How five strapping blokes and all their gear will fit up there is beyond me. The floor is sticky and the pub has a peculiar odour thar is part sweat, part piss and part chip fat. Other than that it's a lovely place to start a career, and it did ok for Iron Maiden didn't it?
Despite all this, they do both types of wine, red and white, with a bottle of girly stuff hitting the scales at a mere £8, about the price of a couple of pints in the city, and so at least drowning out the surroundings is cheap. It's also nice to note that as gig time approaches the "venue" starts to fill up with some friendly faces which is a relief given the liveliness of some of the locals.
Fortunately the gig goes without a hitch, and the next morning I find, covered in spilt wine and footprints, the below review of the gig:
Midnight Messiah Warm Up Gig
Friday 19th April
Hailed as the birthplace of Iron Maiden, it’s seems fitting that Paul Taylor and Phil Denton, the creative heart of Elixir, which at one time featured Maiden alumni Clive Burr on drums, should choose to debut their new outfit at the very same venue.
Billed as a warm up gig ahead of their upcoming headline show in Belgium and series of festival performances in both UK and Europe , this show could be looked on as a shakedown to iron out any bugs before the bigger shows. A palpably nervous Taylor
He needn’t have worried. From the opening assault of Thirty Pieces of Silver and Damned for all Time, it’s obvious that the hard miles put in on the road over the years has paid off. The rhythm section, featuring a be-shaded Dusty Miller on bass and Darren Lee on drums, hold down a furious beat, while guitarists Denton and young maestro Dave Strange trade licks with virtuosic abandon. And as Taylor
Running through the rest of their debut disc with a hunger that outfits half their age would be hard pushed to match, it’s clear that this is a band who would give many of their more famous contemporaries a run for their money. The question and answer soloing in You’re no Friend of Mine has the pub shaking on its foundations and King of the Night has glasses, and voices raised high in the crowd. As the band head into the eponymous closing number, it is clear where much of this new found spark is from.
The new energy brought to the band by the addition of Strange is perfectly illustrated in the revised approach to former Elixir favourite Midnight Messiah. Faster, heavier and downright dirtier, the song is taken to a whole new level with a punch and swagger lacking in the original.
The band close out the show with a real treat for the assembled punters. Son of Odin classics The Star of Beshaan and Treachery are run through with a power rarely seen before, Strange’s precision guitar work lifting the songs to a whole new level, and bringing down the roof on an evening which bodes well for the future of the band.
# posted by Bucko! @ 3:45 AM 
