The Darkness + Ed Sheeran - Love is Only a Feeling

Back on 12/9/2023, The Darkness played in London with a fan of theirs playing as the opening act - Ed Sheeran.

What a show to go to, eh? You buy a ticket for The Darkness and see Ed Sheeran as the opening act.

Plus they played Love is Only a Feeling together, in truly excellent form:

The Darkness - Merry Christmas (Don't Let the Bells End) - Live on BBC2

Give me a D!

Give me an arkness!

Merry Christmas!

The Pogues - And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda

Rest in peace, Shane McGowan

Happy 43rd Birthday New Hope for the Wretched!

The Plasmatics album New Hope for the Wretched came out 43 years ago today on Stiff Records.

Let's hear a track.

The Metal of My Hell - I Speak Machine

A year or so back I went to see Gary Numan with my buddy Rachel. The opening act was a single human begin backed by her husband on production - I Speak Machine.


I was really, deeply impressed by the performance. This is possibly the best song by I Speak Machine but it's far from the only good one. Great stuff, and I really hope they'll perform again near me soon.

The Brevity of Rock-and-Roll - the Great Heathen Army

Want to get a good understanding of the basics of the Great Heathen Army invasion of England, the campaigns of Ivar the Boneless, Alfred the Great, and Edmund the Martyr?

Take 40 minutes and watch these two videos:

Battle of Ashdown, 871 ⚔️ Alfred the Great takes on the Viking 'Great Heathen Army' ⚔️ Part 1/2

Battle of Edington, 878 ⚔️ How did Alfred the Great defeat the Vikings and help unite England? Pt2/2

Or spend 3:33 and listen to Barbarian by The Darkness. Dave Barry had it right. Leader of the Pack is basically an opera on a compressed scale. Rock and Roll does it faster, if not better. Here is your 3:33 Viking History Lesson.

I'm sure I've said this before, but this video launched my fandom of The Darkness. I loved their early stuff, but then moved on. Years later I had a wild hair and just took a look at what they were up to, discovered Barbarian, and I was off. I haven't regretted a minute of it since.

I Like the Cover Better - Hi-Standard - Can't Help Falling In Love

The original of this song is pretty sappy, but also just flat-out good.



The cover?

Well, it just makes me happier. I love the thick accent but clear enunciation of Ken Yokoyama.





Just as a sidebar, I had a sweetheart when I was younger that I was totally enamoured with. It didn't end up going anywhere useful, except that she really hated Elvis. I didn't think much of him. But just to be annoying to her - boys'll do that to girls they like - I started to turn up Elvis whenever he'd come on the radio instead of switching him off. In the process, I started to really appreciate his voice and presentation.

Favorite Punk Guitar Riffs

Someone I follow on Instagram asked for favorite punk guitar riffs. I had opinions. This isn't exhaustive, but it's what came to mind at the moment I saw it:


The Ramones - Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
The Damned - New Rose
Rancid - Avenues and Alleyways
Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love
Television - See No Evil
Misfits - Last Caress
Dead Boys - Sonic Reducer
The Saints - Stranded
Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
The Undertones - Gotta Getta



With some more thought I'd have included:

The Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia
The Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go
The Blue Hearts - Owaranai Uta

and of course, the song this blog is named for:

The Dictators - Who Will Save Rock and Roll?

Tom Waits - Going Out West

You might remember this song from Tom Waits as the song that plays as Brad Pitt and Ed Norton head downstairs at Lou's for a meeting of fight club.

Best comment on this video? "This song is the physical form of whiskey" - I can't argue much with that.

Hawkwind - Kings of Speed (Live)

A nice live version of Kings of Speed by Hawkwind:

Rainbow - Since You've Been Gone

Just a classic by Deep Purple and Rainbow member Ritchie Blackmore:


Ritchie Blackmore has some serious chops. Here he is with a guitar-led version of the 5th movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's 9th Symphonay, the Ode to Joy.

I like the cover better - Police on my Back

The first time I heard this song was the cover by The Clash:

Police on my Back


The original is by the band The Equals. It's amazing. One member of The Equals you need to know of - if you somehow don't know - is Eddy Grant. "Electric Avenue" is one of the best rock songs of all time.


But that's besides the point here.

The original? Great song.

The cover? Superior to my ears.

I always wanted to use this as a walkout song for a fight. What I ended up using back in the day was Killing Zone by Rancid.

Slayer - Raining Blood

One day I was training at Freak Strength and my fellow trainee Fern asked our trainer Mike - "I want to set a pullup PR. What's a good song to play?"

"Raining Blood by Slayer." - Mike

He's not wrong.

I never got into Slayer, but holy hell, this song rocks.

The Plasmatics - Want You (Baby) - live at CBGBs

I still miss Wendy Orleans Williams from The Plasmatics.

Here she is in 1978.

PiL - Anarchy in the U.K.

I guess this is technically a cover - it's Public Image Limited playing Anarchy in the U.K. by Sex Pistols.

Except of course that the lead singer/core member of PiL is John Lydon. Can you cover your own stuff? I don't know how technically this counts.

But it's pretty awesome.

Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue

I can't believe I've this blog for this long without a shout out to Eddy Grant.


I must have first encountered this song on MTV when I was a kid.

It stuck in my head ever since. I loved it then. I love it now. I'm pretty picky when it comes to reggae but I'm not picky when it comes to Eddy Grant. He's amazing across the board. I need to post about the band he was in, too - The Equals. Solo, though, is where I first came across him.

No reason not to share this, here, too, eh?

The Lloyds - And That's Why (I Don't Like You)

Thanks to Evan "Funk" Davis for introducing me to this song on his WFMU show:

Rancid @ Punk Rock Bowling 5/28/2023

The internet comes through again - I couldn't go to Punk Rock Bowling, but someone recorded and posted Rancid's whole set.



For when the music hits, I feel no pain at all.

Dirt Bike Annie - 20 year reunion live

Here is DBA's set from 6/10/23, 20 years after their last live show with all four of the band members. Which I was at, actually. The Continental, opening for The Ergs and MC Chris.

Anyway.

Last night:

Meg White

"I think she’s one of the best drummers of our time.” —Olivia Rodrigo

That's from an article on Elle about Meg White.

I agree. Her drumming - especially live - was just perfect. Not more or less than it needed to be, every time. And what a massive sound just Meg and Jack could make together.

The whole article is good, if all second or third hand, because Meg White doesn't do interviews.

And damn, I still miss the White Stripes. They were just amazing, album after album after album.

Rancid - Spirit of '87

This is a particularly slamming song on a pretty slamming album - Indestructable.

The video is all footage from their tour with GBH in Japan. Home is where the heart is, and for me, home is Japan. I can't wait to be there again and the video for this song - and thus the song - pull me back there every time I hear it.


Here's to me being home again soon.

Rancid - Alleyways & Avenues - Live 2016

Times are gonna change, change or step aside.

Jeff Beck

Jeff Beck passed away.

He was an utterly amazing guitarist. Here he is with the Yardbirds doing my favorite song of theirs.

Heart Full of Soul