Nine Men in Black [Gig Review]

JD & The FDCs [FDCs] + The Idol Dead [TID]

Tap N’ Tumbler [TNT]

Nottingham

27.02.14

This week I’m off to see two bands that I’ve not only seen many times before but two bands I’ve already seen this year. JD & The FDCs and The Idol Dead are playing the Tap N’ Tumbler in Nottingham on the last Thursday in February and I for one am not gonna miss this show. Back in the middle of January I caught up with them both at the twelve band extravaganza that was Martin Short’s sixtieth birthday bash at the Maze. Tonight however they will both get a longer set than they did that night, the FDCs are headlining so it’s the turn of some of Yorkshires finest sons in the form of The Idol Dead to play first.

With bottled water and towels in place on stage courtesy of Craig the land lord (all it needed was some Robertson’s barley water and you’d have thought we were at Wimbledon) and its show time. Opening up with the brilliantly fast paced Buckle N’ Howl (note to self: video this next time) TID immediately invigorate the crowd with chant along lines like ‘hell yeah!’ and fuck yeah!’ this is a great song to open with. The Leeds based band’s personnel are Polly Phluid (lead vocals) Tim (lead guitar) KC Duggan (lead guitar) Suggy (bass) and Nish (drums)looking resplendent as they do in their black shirts and lime green ties. TID play post punk hard rock (a cliché I know) but then again fulfilling clichés are one of the bands ambitions apparently. Although all the members of TID give it 100% on stage a special mention has to be made about the over excited antics of KC on guitar and Polly’s St Vitas dance like movements they both draw the eye. The poignant song Travelling Man is one of the highlights of their set for me but the only draw back is they only played half a dozen songs or so; a few more would not have gone a miss. I.D.O.L is the final song it’s a rip roaring sing along number with mucho contributions from the audience as a microphone wielding Polly Phluid weaves his way in and out of the masses. Both bands tonight have an array of merchandise on sale but I have to mention TID’s green and black ‘punky’ teddy bears, you wouldn’t give one to a small child in case they had nightmares. 

If you was wondering why this review is titled Nine Men in Black then wonder no longer, when the FDCs take to the stage they always wear black shirts with white armbands sporting the legend FDCs so tonight we’ve seen nine similarly clad band members on the TNT stage (like nine back riders in the lord of the rings) ok well not really like that but it’s what ran through my weird imagination at the time. Opening up with Ujpest Dozsa an upbeat song that’s become a staple of the FDCs set it’s swiftly followed by This Ship is Going Down, the crowd are ‘up for it’ as JD leads his band of merry men through an unfamiliar set which contains three brand new songs even I’ve never heard before. For those of you reading this who aren’t familiar with the FDCs they are Jamie ‘JD’ Delerict (lead vocals/guitar) Dazmondo (lead guitar/vocals) Joey Strange (bass/vocals) and Danny Gunn (lead drums) this band seem to be constantly on the road and have reached a wide audience over the last four years or so that they’ve been together. Although front man JD was struggling a bit with a bad throat the new stuff came across well and the man flu didn’t effect his sardonic banter with the crowd and with his fellow band members, I think Dazmondo has been ‘sacked’ at just about every gig they’ve played. The penultimate number of the FDCs set is the now anthemic Burn This City Down, with audience participation at maximum it would be easy to finish on this one, however no FDCs gig would be complete without the trademark Stupid Music Played by Idiots (whimsically dedicated to The Idol Dead) another crowd participation song, many of the audience shying away from JD as he pounces on unsuspecting victims to sing along. In fact the FDCs are a band that get the crowd joining in all the time, from ‘Slade thumbs’ to constant shouts of YES! A word written on the back of Daz’s guitar lest we forget it. They’re a band that you either ‘get’ or you don’t get, it makes no difference to Jamie he is a man driven by the force of rock n’ roll and I think he’s never gonna stop. 

If you were at this gig tonight you will have witnessed two groups who express the real meaning of what live rock music is all about, I also know many like them that give so much of their valuable time to the cause for very little financial reward. I’d better get off my soap box now before I get started on about bands with no more talent than these guys who manage somehow to get away with charging exorbitant amounts of money to go see them in an arena… Never… Gonna… Stop!

Find both tonight’s bands on their websites…

JD & The FDCs: http://www.jdandthefdcs.com/

The Idol Dead: http://theidoldead.com/

GD Manofmetal.

Both videos bellow shot @ The Tap N' Tumbler Nottingham by GD:

60th Birthday Badass – Bash [Gig Review]

Exit State + Captain Horizon + Babylon Fire + JD & The FDCs + Psychobabylon + The Idol Dead

The Maze Nottingham

18.01.14

Mr. Martin Short local rock fan and promoter has reached the incredibly ancient age of sixty and he’s decided to have an all day gig at the maze in Nottingham. Not only that, proceeds from the badass bash are in aid of two worthy charities, children’s hospice arts and the Sophie Lancaster foundation both worthy causes I’m sure you’ll agree.
Pictured Right: Mr. Martin Short & GD Manofmetal

It all got underway just after mid day but due to other commitments yours truly only managed to get there in time to see the last six bands so apologies go out to those I didn’t get to see.

Upon arrival at the Maze on Mansfield road Nottingham I discovered there was an interlude or food break, amidst the raffle stalls and various other merchandise and fund raising paraphernalia I spied a furtive looking Dave & Kieran Tonge (Noize Level Critical) loitering in a corner, the aroma of chicken curry and chips kind of gave the game away guys.

All that aside the live music once again got underway around six thirty with a band I didn’t wanna miss, The Idol Dead from Leeds are fronted by the enigmatic Poll Phluid who’s energy on stage is always turned up to the max. Describing themselves as “five men hell bent on making an entertaining racket” The Idol Dead sure do engage the audience with their hard rock sound and enthusiasm. All the bands today are playing around thirty to forty minute sets so it’s a quick turn around and sadly all to soon we arrive at The Idol Dead’s finale. Yes it’s time for the audience sing along song I.D.O.L. Moving through the crowd Polly Phluid gets the fans to sing eye, dee, oh, el, dee, ee, aye, dee! It just rolls off the tongue; I know I was struggling with it.

Next up are Psychbabylon another Yorkshire band and one I’ve not seen before, they’re practically out of the same stable as The Idol Dead but Psychobabylon have more of a classic rock sound and appearance. I do know the drummer though, I last saw Ginna around a year ago when he was skinsman for the now defunct Velvet Star. Playing an entertaining set of original songs like Factor 10 packed with catchy riffs Psychobabylon also have an edgy almost punk attitude that makes for an entertaining set, I’ll be looking out for these guys again.

                                                                                                                                                           
It will be no secret to anyone who knows me that JD & The

FDCs are one of my favourite underground bands of the last few years, I’ve written many words about the four piece East Midlands based band in the past, I was at their first ever show and let me tell you it was like the beginning of a super group, however this isn’t a biography so I’ll get on with it. Hitting the stage with verve, controlled aggression and a certain kind of confidence that smells of ‘we don’t give a fuck’ JD & The FDCs run through their

repertoire with practiced ease. Front man Jamie Delerict (JD) makes it certain everyone in the venue know that it’s his band and his rants and tirades between songs are amusing to say the least (he does sound very serious at times though) the forty minute set fly’s by oh so quickly and before you know it Jamie is mingling through the crowd picking on folk to finish the line which he starts ‘Stupid Music… Played By Idiots’ woe betide anyone who screws this up I’m sure he would have them shot at dawn if it was legal, of cause I’m only teasing I meant hung drawn and quartered.

Another Babylon next, Babylon Fire are a Manchester band signed to Rocksector Records they describe themselves rather modestly as “your new favourite British metal band” and they’re definitely metal with a capital M. They do have some good stuff such as the songs Darkness Draws Me In, Shattered Crown and Freight Train to name just three all of which are packed with thunderous drum beats and ear splitting riffs, sadly though there was too much growling vocals for my taste, a trend in heavy metal I’m nor over enamoured with and none of Babylon Fire’s songs needed the growling but then again maybe I’m just an old traditionalist at heart. Never the less these guys put on a cracking show and will appeal to fans of bands like Stone Sour, Machine Head and Five Finger Death Punch.

The penultimate band of Martin’s big birthday bash is a band I’ve seen many times over the last couple of years, from Birmingham its Captain Horizon. Their debut album The Light of Distorted Science released in 2012 is an accomplished work packed with intelligently written songs, Captain Horizon describe their style of music thusly “a unique blend of alt, prog, classic rock, indie and unashamedly glorious pop”. Their live set is pretty much made up of songs from that album and keeping the trend of enigmatic front men going, lead singer Steve ‘Whitty’ Whittington not only is in possession of fine vocal talents but fancies himself a comedian as well. No Captain Horizon gig would be complete without his trademark ‘table walk’ so as he leaps from one surface to another out into the crowd like a deranged supermodel on an assault course the show is completed.

Headlining tonight are another Lancashire band signed to Rocksector Records, Exit State whose musical style has been described by Powerplay Magazine as "melodic metal that deserves to be in the charts, nestling with the likes of Alter Bridge" well I don’t know about that but Exit State certainly deserve all the plaudits they get. I first saw them several years ago and they have come a long way since those days, last year they released their third album entitled Let’s See It All. Having played supporting slots on the Michael Schenker temple of rock tour as well as appearing at Hard rock Hell to name just two of their impressive achievements Exit State have reached out to a wide audience and won over many adoring fans. Front man Roy Bright is a top bloke and is even a published author no less. If you like a more melodic heavy metal give these boys a listen you’re bound to like them and you have my personal guarantee on that. 
Band Photographs Courtesy Of RSR Photography. 

Check out all the bands in this review on their respective websites:

Exit State http://www.exitstate.com/

Captain Horizon http://www.captainhorizon.co.uk/

Babylon Fire http://www.mwaweb.com/rocksectorbands_babylonfire.htm

JD & The FDCs http://www.jdandthefdcs.com/

Psychobabylon https://www.facebook.com/Psychobabylon

The Idol Dead http://theidoldead.com/

GD Manofmetal