‘VARIOUS ARTISTS’ – VIVE LE ROCK AWARDS, SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE, LONDON 6.4.23
I must confess that I’m not a huge fan of awards shows. There normally tends to be too much glad-handing, back-slapping, posing, posturing and all round ego massaging. However, I’m delighted to be able to tell you that the ‘Vive Le Rock Awards’ are simply not like that. The people at the magazine, and indeed the musicians that they have invited along tonight are down-to-earth, friendly and as ‘normal’ as anybody working in the field of rock and roll can be. The emphasis tonight is on fun, so sit back and relax while I acquaint you with what went down.
Proceedings kick off with a warm introduction from Eugene Butcher, the Vive Le Rock Editor-in-Chief, and then the music gets underway with The Vive Le Rockers, who seem to chiefly comprise former members of The Jim Jones Review. They play ‘Misirlou’ by Dick Dale, and then Eddie And The Hotrods ‘Teenage Depression’, which is dedicated to their late frontman Barrie Masters.
We have been promised a number of special guests tonight, and the first of
of these are Jackie Chambers and Kim McAuliffe from Girlschool. Jackie makes it onstage on time, but we wait for Kim as she is “in the loo”. Kim joins us wearing an original Headgirl t-shirt. I’m sure that there are quite a few people in the audience who wish that they could still get in their t-shirts from over forty years ago! Kim is without her guitar tonight, and wonders if anyone knows what singers do with their hands onstage. Many suggestions are offered, many of them not repeatable here.
Kim, Jackie and the band crash into ‘Emergency’, which Motorhead tackled on the Motorhead & Girlschool (hence Headgirl) ‘St Valentine’s Day Massacre’ EP back in 1981. Next up is Motorhead’s ‘Bomber’ for which Eugene Butcher (frontman of Desperate Measures) and Beki Bondage (of Vice Squad join in on vocals. Girlschool covered this on the EP. It is sobering indeed to remember that all three members of the classic Motorhead lineup are no longer with us. This segment of the show ends with a tear-through of the lead track of the EP, Johnny Kidd and The Pirates’ ‘Please Don’t Touch’. In many ways this section sets the tone for the show: remembering what’s gone before, whilst celebrating what we have.
The Girlschool ladies depart, and we are joined by Millie Manders, from Millie Manders and The Shutup. She is accompanied by her brother (apparently), who looks somewhat like an identikit Ramone. Millie announces that they have just heard of the passing of Nora Lydon (John’s wife), and so they play the Sex Pistols’ ‘God Save The Queen’ in her honour.
There next follows the first awards presentations of the evening. Beki Bondage has the unfortunate task of helming this part of the show. I say ‘unfortunate’ as it soon becomes clear that it is a near impossible task to prise some of the recipients from the VIP bar upstairs!!! Still, that’s rock ‘n’ roll I suppose! Beki displays seemingly unlimited good-natured patience in the face of this. However, some of the awards do get presented: the ‘Festival Of The Year’ award is presented to representatives of the ‘Rebellion Festival‘ by Charlie Harper of the UK Subs; the ‘Best Roots Artist’ is presented by Lee Thompson from Madness to Neville Staple of the Specials; and the ‘New Blood’ award is presented by Brix Smith to Bob Vylan. Bob Vylan makes a very passionate speech as to how punk isn’t dead, but it is in danger of dying, and the only way to avoid it meeting its demise is to get young people interested in it. Amen to that, but personally I fear that may be easier said than done. Time will tell.
Before we become too introspective and serious, The Vive Le Rockers return to lighten things up. This time they’re joined by Jim Jones, formerly of The Jim Jones Revue and now of The Jim Jones All Stars. He delivers a chillingly good version of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins ‘I Put A Spell On You’, which is possibly worth the price of a ticket on its own. Jim is followed by Jennie Matthias (formerly of The Belle Stars) and Elizabeth Westwood (formerly of Westworld) who as Bad Barbee present a show on Totally Wired Radio. They serenade us with ‘Iko Iko’ (which was covered by The Belle Stars), and Westworld’s ‘Sonic Boom Boy’. This was a pleasant surprise: a nice bit of fun.
Beki Bondage returns to the fray with a vocal cord lacerating version of Little Richard’s ‘Lucille’. Beki describes Richard as the king and queen of rock ‘n’ roll. A good point well made Beki. Norman Watt-Roy joins us for a version of Dr. Feelgood’s ‘Roxette’ in memory of Wilko Johnson.
We have the next and final round of award presentations. This time the recipients manage to get to the stage on time. Maybe Beki has sweet-talked (or possibly threatened) them. Maybe the VIP bar has closed. I guess we’ll never know. The Cockney Rejects get the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. We’ll be hearing more from them later. Youth (of Killing Joke fame) presents the ‘Bass Legend Award’ to Norman Watt-Roy. It’s difficult to say which of them is more of a legend really. I guess they’re pretty much on a par.
Rhoda Dakar presents and accepts (on behalf of the late Terry Hall) the ‘Icon Award’. She makes a very moving speech about Terry, with particular emphasis on how supportive he was of women in the music industry. It is astonishing that women are still under-represented in the industry. Are we in the stone age? Since his passing I have heard a great deal about what a wonderful person Terry was. He certainly went way too soon.
With that, the awards part of the evening is over. Now we have the live sets. First up are the Cockney Rejects. Their set is only three songs long, but I’m really impressed that they haven’t gone for the ‘greatest hits’ option. Opener ‘Paper Tiger’ is from their most recent album ‘Power Grab’, which came out last year. ‘Unforgiven’ is from their album of the same name released in 2007. ‘Bad Man’ is the only oldie, a single from 1980. Seeing these guys live it seems incredible to think that they are retiring from touring at the end of this year. They’re energetic, enthusiastic, and they clearly still mean it too. Still, better to quit while you’re still ahead I suppose. They will apparently continue to make festival appearances. Hopefully they’ll record too.
Neville Staple follows next. I’ve never seen Neville live as a solo artist before, and his set tonight is something of a revelation. Including himself there is a seven piece band, and they’re the best thing I’ve seen since, well, the Specials really. They blast out a too short eight song set of Specials songs, and songs covered by the Specials. Indeed, the Neville Staple Band is the closest you’ll get to seeing the Specials now that Terry Hall is no longer with us. Tonight they’ve got what has been a largely stationary crowd dancing, and that’s some achievement. Pretty much every song in the set is a highlight in its own right, but ‘Ghost Town’ in particular stands out, probably because at the moment it is more relevant than it has been for a very long time, and that certainly isn’t something to celebrate.
Finally, we get a band that I never thought that I would get the opportunity to see live after the passing of Stiv Bators in 1990. Well, sometimes the seemingly impossible becomes possible, and here are the Lords Of The New Church onstage at Shepherds Bush Empire, as the finale of tonight’s show. Michael Monroe stands in for the permanently indisposed Bators. Original members Brian James and Dave Tregunna (of Sham 69 fame) are joined by Mark Taylor who played keyboards with the band from 1984 onwards, whilst Terry Chimes, the original drummer with The Clash, mans the kit. Chimes took part in some of the nascent Lords’ early rehearsals in 1980. Original drummer Nicky Turner (ex-the Barracudas) is also onstage providing backing vocals.
Unsurprisingly the band tear through a set of Lords’ classics. Live they’re not hampered by their now seemingly questionable 1980s production. Whoever thought gated drums were a good idea?!! Brian James looks far more together than on the recent Damned reunion tour, and peals out some impressive solos. After ‘Method To My Madness’ Rat Scabies appears and presents James with the ‘Vive Le Rock Pioneer Award’. He then replaces Chimes behind the kit for a version of The Damned’s ‘New Rose’. The band leave the stage but quickly return for a cover of Bo Diddley’s ‘Pills’.
And so the 2023 ‘Vive Le Rock Awards’ ends very much with a bang. Tonight has been both a memorial in parts and a celebration. However, the words of Bob Vylan should be noted: for this music to thrive and to continue to evolve, young musicians and a younger audience must be attracted. If rock ‘n’ roll, punk or whatever you want to call it becomes pure nostalgia, then we’ve lost. At the ‘Rebellion Festival’ last year I was very taken with how many young bands from all around the world were there playing. Let’s have some more of that. Moreover, with the world as it is at the moment, what we need more than ever is for people to express their anger through loud rock music. Turn it up!
Vive Le Rock Awards:
‘Festival’ – Rebellion
‘Live Artist’ – Amyl And The Sniffers
‘Roots Artist’ – Neville Staple
‘Reissue Of The Year’ – UK Subs
‘New Blood’ – Bob Vylan
‘Album Of The Year’ – The Interrupters
‘Pioneer’ – Brian James
‘Bass Legend’ – Norman Watt-Roy
‘Icon’ – Terry Hall
‘Lifetime Achievement’ – Cockney Rejects
Cockney Rejects setlist:
‘Paper Tiger’
‘Unforgiven’
‘Bad Man’
Neville Staple setlist:
‘Do The Dog’
‘Nite Klub’
‘Monkey Man’
‘A Message To You Rudy’
‘Gangsters’
‘Concrete Jungle’
‘Ghost Town’
‘Long Shot Kick De Bucket’
Lords Of The New Church setlist:
‘New Church’
‘Livin’ On Livin’’
‘Dance With Me’
‘Russian Roulette’
‘Method To My Madness’
‘New Rose’
(encore)
‘Pills’
