Brixton Academy
11 November 2005
Before I even walk through the doors of Brixton, my eyes graze a field of tribute Billy haircuts. This is Billy *fucking* Idol. The music we were either brought up with or forced to listen to on loooooonnnngggg drives with our folks. This music marks the revolutionary history that has brought you to this very website, on this very page. Just as Debbie Harry, Black Sabbath and The Doors paved the way, Billy played his peroxide James-Dean punk rock part. There was no supporting band! Just pure 100% uncensored Billy Idol for 2 and a half hours! No wonder he is still sporting a six-pack at 50-odd, which he proudly strips down to between songs, and it still makes the gals holla! He looks the perfect plastic surgery picture of health after surviving drug overdoses, and a bike accident! It was a majestic display of pure speed.., I mean stamina!
In their own right they are all amazing musicians. Steve the lead guitarist plays the most majestic Spanish-almost a little Country-and-Western solos. The drummer not only juggles while playing the most incredible drums, but also plays guitar!…well enough to take on Steve Stevens! The keyboardist plays 2 keyboards at the same time. And Billy not only writes and sings, but has hidden talents as a pretty nifty guitarist. It was a generously well-balanced gig for most of the band members. My only criticism being that the bassist should have stepped up to the plate a little more. Raging waters run deep and all 6 of them are annoyingly talented!
Billy seemed to be stoked to be making his comeback. He kept thanking the crowd, signing autographs and throwing out free gear! The sweeter side of the punk-rocker nobody sees in photos. Maybe he thought nobody would stay for the music? With the mass support shown by die-hard fans and gay community alike, I am sure he was pleasantly surprised.
They played all the classics as you can imagine, just loads and loads all in the span of an exhausting, and everlasting 2.5 hours! I must completely say this has been one of my top gigs for 2005, and saying that I have probably lost credibility for all future reviews…No really, it was the perfect balance of nostalgia, new tracks and good old fashioned Rock ‘n Roll in the truest sense. I left exhausted and grateful that the band gave us their blood, sweat and tears all in one evening.
Hopefully they will be around next year if they don’t burn themselves out, or walk down old paths. Billy did promise a new album on the horizon after all…Good luck to ya fitting that in!
Niki Kova’cs
Image stolen from www.jencray.com
(sorry, Crossfire could not get any photo’s at the show)
Kung Fu, London’s best hip hop club night, brought about a change of scenery as it upped sticks from the Underworld to bop across the road to the Jazz Café for the first time and boasted a might line up, headlined by the ever-fresh Jehst. Getting in just before The Colony took to the stage proved difficult as the venue was packed to bursting point, but once there the ears were treated to a tight set which included a somewhat controversial ending when Grimlock’s accapella ended in a line about Jamie Bulger. Nonetheless, the crowd were bopping and after some fine time filling by Sarah and Harry Love, Micall Parknsun and Dubble Edge bumped the stage with some nice heavy beats and again, got the crowd head nodding.
10 years ago Richard and Stefanie Reines started an independent, punk rock label in California called Drive-Thru Records. Now in 2005, the label has the luxury of issuing a full compilation of the best tracks from various artists from the roster and deliver it to you just in time for xmas!
Oh yes, this could be one of the finest records in the history of skateboarding and music! Someone somewhere in Germany came up with the idea of having the cheesiest skateboard tunes EVER on one disc and released it! I guess that the tunes on this CD from the 70’s are the roots of what made skate rock in the 80’s but obviously with a completely different flavour, but what is totally unbelievable is the fact that every tune on this compilation is as camp as Little Britain and makes you wanna actually go into the shed to find your 70’s roller skates and be totally gay in the street! With a mix of classic 70’s funk, disco and surf flavoured Beach Boys style songs on every track you are not gonna be disappointed whatsoever if you have a sense of humour.. 
So, here we are again, Damon Albarn and his team of cool-ass chimps are back with a fresh slice of twisted beats going by the name of Dirty Harry and believe me when i say that this weapon is not carrying a silencer, because this is a sure fire hit and one of the best tunes on the Demon Days album. With Dangermouse on the production and Albarns futuristic songwriting skills, the Gorillaz have stated their intention to dominate the music charts and have followed it through to match the success of the debut album back in 2002.
The contractors have done a lot of sanding of the rough surface and redone some areas of the park following the users comments, so while it certainly not perfect, it is a lot smoother than it was and some of the worst bumps and lumps have gone.
The stakes are high in the media nowadays, and the strongest currency is video footage! Click onto any website, or browse the shelves for a new magazine and you can be sure to find some video attached or a bit of footy to get you stoked. Long gone are the days of a simple free sticker or poster…
The More I See feature ex-Prodigy guitarist Gizz Butt on guitar and are the result of Gizz’s misspent youth spent listening to equal parts metal and punk, cutting his teeth in metal inspired punk bands like The Desecrators and English Dogs, he found brief fame as the punk guitarist in the Prodigy during their controversial hit single period, before returning to relative obscurity with melodic punks Janus Stark then seeing a return to a more metal approach with The More I See. And in many ways they are the ideal support band for Exodus tonight as they have their roots firmly set in the eighties thrash metal explosion that tonight’s headliners hail from. It’s a shame that a muted response from a crowd only really interested in the headliners and a seemingly endless succession of technical problems stop the band from really getting into their stride, but for the most part, they play a solid competent set of old school metal thrills.
Exodus were originally formed back in 1982 by guitarist Gary Holt and future Metallica man Kirk Hammet and were one of the most exciting and powerful metal bands of the era, creating one of the genre’s true classics in their debut release ‘Bonded By Blood’ – a record that is twice as vicious and fast as Metallica’s debut and only really bettered by Slayer in the aggression stakes. However, Exodus have had more then their fair share of bad luck over the years and have been plagued by line-up problems and the tragic and sudden death of original singer Paul Baloff in 2002. But this is not a band that will be stopped easily. ‘Certain members decided they’d rather stay home than do this,’ spits an obviously pissed off Gary Holt. ‘But I will never let Exodus die!‘ And from the moment they hit the stage, they play like a band that has never been more alive! Charging straight into their first album’s title track ‘Bonded By Blood‘, the whole venue explodes in waves of energy as the new revigorated and revamped band bark and snap at the front of the stage like rabid pitbulls.