Category: 1992
*Fugazi, Jesus Lizard, Shudder To Think, Leatherface – Brixton Academy, London, UK – 9th May 1992
*John Otway – Joiners, Southampton, Hampshire, UK – 8th April 1992
*Born Against, Downfall, Blunt – Joiners, Southampton, Hampshire, UK – 1st April 1992
*Herb Garden, Surf Weasel, Stockwell – Joiners, Southampton, Hampshire, UK – 25th March 1992
Take me home, again – 24th March 1992
Well, the service station was interesting for about 5 minutes! I was lucky it was open 24 hours I suppose.
I kept occupied by playing the arcade machines and reading the Nirvana interviews in Q, Select and Smash Hits! I tried to crash out behind a barrier in one of the restaurant areas, but couldn’t sleep at all. Back to the machines. Had my dinner at 2am! I tried to crash out again, but a security guard said I couldn’t, but by now it was light again. Just dossed about for the next six hours or so and went to check on my car.
The extremely unhelpful chap there said, “Oh, it might be ready today. ” Fuck – I did not want to spend another sleepless night here. He said he’d do his best and to try later. Hmm! Pissed about for three more hours and really got fed up and miserable. I prayed it to be ready on my return, and lo and behold, it was parked outside – yeah!
The chap asked how I’d like to pay, and I said by cheque, but he said he could only take two cheques for £50, and the bill came to £185!
He suggested a bank transfer, so I had to ring up my bank but they wouldn’t do it without written permission, and said it would take three days anyway – oh my god! You can’t even begin to imagine how I felt just then!
Finally, I phoned good old mother and used her Access to pay the bill – that’s what mums are for, right? (thanks mum!).
At last – on my way home. It was a pity I had to fuck about for the last day, and I nearly stopped off on the way back to try and find another gig (Citizen Fish), but I was so tired I thought better of it. I got back at about 8.15pm, by which time meant I’d been awake for about 34 hours! Needless to say, I had a beer and fell straight to sleep, to dream about driving, and some band I met – forget their name now!
ASK YOURSELVES A QUESTION?
Ralph: No, how about if I ask you: Did you enjoy following us around all week, considering you needed your clutch repaired to the tune of £200 because of it, and what are your impressions of VF as people?
Shaun: Yeah, I really enjoyed following the band around. I wasn’t really expecting to get to all the gigs because of my car (I knew it was going to break down somewhere!), but as there were only 2 shows left and I was halfway towards the Wigan show, I just thought fuck it – let’s do it! The car is a bummer, but what the fuck, you gotta have some fun! I had adopted a kind of motto after the car broke down, which goes “First comes the Victims Family, second my welfare and finally my car’s welfare!”
The Victims Family as people? Well, anybody who’s prepared to talk to an ugly bastard like me has to be cool!
Larry is just great! Initially, I thought of him as a kind of Cheech character. Not quite with it if you know what I mean! But fuck, it’s always the quiet ones who make you laugh the most, and he’d often come out with great one-liners or even one-worders!
Tim was happy to talk, especially about music (‘cept maybe his previous metal band!). He was surprised at my knowledge of bands that he liked or knew and “chuffed to fuck” I picked up the Pitchfork CD for him in Wigan. He especially had an affection for English sayings such as “champion” and “fark right orf mate!”
Ralph, I talked to most and he was prepared to chew the fat about anything from music to politics and didn’t mind giving me the rundown on the history of Nicaragua. To discover the fact he used to drop acid and still smokes dope really surprised me – he’s a pretty together bloke, though he has the benefit of more years than the rest of us! Is that ageist, Ralph?
I don’t think you can fault their musicianship in any way, even if you don’t like their music, and I still stick to the fact that most good technical bands are three pieces. It seems that you have to make do with what you’ve got and it’s fun to explore new ways to do things with your instruments.
You’d never realise Tim only has a tom, a floor tom and one cymbal (besides the regular bass, snare and hi-hat) by the amount of different rhythms he gets from the kit. Larry’s bass playing is incredible – I’ve never seen hands move so fast. Ralph is also exploring the guitar and looking for new bits of it to play, and all at the same time as streamlining the songs into more conventional patterns. Wow – what a band!
Of course, I have to mention sound man and part-time merchandiser Josh, who, again, was very approachable even though suffering from a cold for most of the time. Hey Josh, how many of those guitar string bearings did you end up with? Enough for a necklace, I’m sure! And finally, Hetty, tour organiser and main driver, who had to put up with many jibes about her love for house music! She told me they got their van tyres fixed in Newport within a half-hour, and a clutch sorted out in Stoke in a couple of hours. She couldn’t understand how come how come my car was going to take so long to fix. I think maybe I can put it down to not being a pretty blonde Dutch girl!
Five cool people, six progressively better rocking shows, mad music, mad people, mad times – you want to know if I enjoyed myself? Go figure!
Hey dudes… Later!
Dreamscape and Delusions – 23rd March 1992
Woke up pretty groggy this morning, but soon revived with tea and toast. Alan and I got a lift into Birmingham with John and Ghita (after a little trouble starting their car) and we said goodbye before catching our respective buses out of town.
I had the horrible task of getting back to the service station where my car was. I first got a bus to Walsall, where I attempted to hitch up the M6 at junction 7, but to no avail. I caught another bus into Walsall town centre and out again to junction 10. After about 3/4 hour in the freezing wind, a cool chap picked me up just before it pissed down!
Got to the garage at the service station to see my lovely car and the wreckage of my clutch! They were still waiting for new parts and said it probably wouldn’t be ready til tomorrow, so I now had an overnight stay in the services – oh what fun!
DREAMSCAPE & DELUSIONS: I just can’t think straight. I’ve been up all night and my mind is floating all over the place. My body’s here – I know this cos it’s hurting. This is hard to write. The food in here smells great. It’s sixty pence for a tomato. Do you think they are special? The floor seemed nice – shame I didn’t get to sleep on it. I could make a life-size maggot out of the plaque on my teeth. That girl over there looks nice – pity I can’t see her without my glasses, not that I’d be able to focus my sight anyway. Oh, it’s a boy! Small noises are erupting around me from everywhere. It’s a cacophony. A symphony of knives scratching porcelain, lighters lighting, cups clattering and that chap over there chattering. Concentration is this big, no, this big. Maybe, this big. What am I talking about? Is this madness or is this me? Now that was definitely a girl!
Victims Family, Blowfly – Edwards, Birmingham, West Midlands, UK – 22nd March 1992
VICTIMS FAMILY/BLOWFLY
Birmingham Edwards No. 6
Being a relatively short drive to Birmingham, there was plenty of time to hang around before leaving. I had a pretty bad cold, but I didn’t feel ill or anything – just coughing up loads of phlegm. Chatted with Ralph for a while about the upcoming elections in both our countries, the recession, Nicaragua and the BCCI bank. He thinks the business with the BCCI and the recession are interlinked, and it’s quite possible he’s right.
After saying our goodbyes, we took off down the M6 to the sounds of Urban Dance Squad, which was pretty good. Once we got into Birmingham, we were half expecting to be looking for the venue for a couple of hours, but by some stroke of luck, the band recognised where they were and it was right outside the place!
It was still quite early, and the place wasn’t open yet, so we checked out Birmingham for some food. It was nice and quiet as it was Sunday, and I actually thought it was an ok place, though it looks worse as you’re driving in. Most places were closed but we tracked down a Pizzaland and munched out. Larry had some kind of pasta in sauce, which also came with some nice, sharp pieces of plastic!
We went back to the van and waited around for a while. We’d heard throughout the whole tour that this gig may not go ahead and were contemplating buggering off. However, much to my surprise, the place opened up at six. The club is really nice and had lots of lights and stage equipment etc. A bit of a bummer was having to heave the gear up two flights of stairs, though it got done quickly with four of us doing it (Ralph had disappeared off somewhere just at the right time!).
I met a chap, Alan, who I’d seen in Wigan, who’d travelled down for this show. He was practising his four-ball juggling when I spotted him. I wasn’t sure where I’d be staying that night, as the band thought they might head back to Leamington Spa. Alan also wasn’t sure where he was staying, and due to poor advertising of the show, there weren’t many people there to ask – about 40 at the most!
Anyway, Blowfly were the support band and they were ok, though they could do with a bit more practise. I felt a whole lot better after a couple of lagers (at the extortionate price of £2 a pint) and prepared myself for the Victims Family final UK show. Even though it was sparsely attended, I thought they fuckin’ ripped! Maybe they just relaxed as there weren’t many people there, though Ralph commented later that he didn’t feel at all relaxed (hm!).
They played pretty much the same set as the night before, and 3 or 4 of us cheered them back for more, to which they gave us ‘Sinatra’ and finished with three goes at ‘Stupid’ (a token thrash song off ‘ Things I Hate To Admit’).
Lo and behold, in the audience was that man Nick Evans (now of Alternative Tentacles) who’d come up from London. I found that the band were going to stay with him that night and wondered about a place to stay.
As Alan and I were chatting to Ralph, a couple of locals joined us and we managed to blag a place to stay with them. We took some final photos in the backstage room and headed outside, where the gear was being loaded up. Alan bought the only cassette in the UK of the new LP ‘Germ’ – only on vinyl and CD over here. Ralph told me his final thoughts on the tour, but due to alcohol consumption, I didn’t recall precisely what was said, except that they considered it successful and really enjoyed themselves.
I wished everyone good luck with the rest of the tour, and hoped to catch them on their last date, a festival in Amsterdam. That sure would be good, but finance may dictate otherwise. After bidding everyone a fond farewell, Alan and I headed off to the bus station. Halfway down the road, all the band shouted out “Hey, hey dude…later!” (which some of you may recognise from the White Bread Blues’ LP).
The place we were staying was out of town a bit and we had to catch a bus there (unfortunately, we couldn’t get a lift with the people we were staying with). We then had to find the house and throw stones at the upper right-hand window.
It all sounded a bit dodgy to me, but I was too drunk to care by now! We found the place ok and were welcomed into the flat to the sounds of Jethro Tull (Wow, have I heard some different styles of music on the tour!).
The two people (John & Gita) were extremely nice people. I think Ghita was a small-time celebrity with her multi-pierced ears and 3 chains to a nose ring, red, green and yellow hair and tattoos – a particularly cool Celtic design on her head and a smart pattern on her wrist. I think they liked my Circle Jerks tattoo too! We talked about all sorts of stuff from music to religion, and finally went to sleep to the sound of the Violent Femmes LP.
Victims Family, Drive, Yardstick – The Den, Wigan, Lancashire, UK – 21st March 1992
VICTIMS FAMILY/DRIVE/YARDSTICK
The Den, Wigan
Totally refreshed and revived this morning. and hit the road pretty soon. My car seemed to be ok again, to,o which was quite pleasing. Unfortunately, as I pulled into a service station just above Birmingham, the gearbox decided to go! After an hour or so of waiting for the RAC, they turned up to say “Nothing I can do, mate!” In fact, all he could do was take it to the nearest garage, which was 200 yards away in the services! Wow, that’s cool, I thought, but aha! The bloke down in the garage was a real ignorant, arrogant fuck, and said the best he could do was about 3 days time! Oh well, without much option, I left the car there to be repaired in the hope of returning sometime on Tuesday.
There was nothing for it except to stick the old thumb out in the wet and cold, and hope! Ok, it wasn’t raining but it sure was cold. After about half an hour, a car pulled up – to let someone out! About twenty minutes later, a van pulled up and offered me and this other guy a lift.
People always say to watch out for weirdos when hitching, and this couple were weird but, luckily, in a nice sort of way. They asked where we were going – about twenty times! They also didn’t know where they were. They said they’d left Birmingham to go to Weston Supermare, but took the wrong motorway and thought they’d go to Manchester.
Anyway, they decided to go to Blackpool instead (I’m not sure they knew where it was, though)! I got off at an exit for Wigan and walked into town to the venue, where there was no one waiting.
I walked around to Alan’s record shop, where I met Alan, who looked totally different to how I imagined. As I was walking into Wigan earlier, I was trying to picture Alan and put him down as having black hair and a tache. Of course, no tache and blond hair! The shop was packed with people and I saw a whole slew of records and stuff that I couldn’t afford. I did purchase a copy of the Touch & Go fanzine and headed back to the venue, which should have been open by now.
Unfortunately, the keyholder hadn’t turned up yet but I did meet Mel and Sean (Tabby Cat Village), who were also waiting outside. The Victims Family van turned up a few minutes later and I managed to blag a lift off them to Birmingham tomorrow. I went off to seek food and drink in the meantime. On my return, there were loads of people waiting to get in (a few already inside too!). I was really surprised by the amount of people here, but as Alan explained, Wigan is an easy place to get to from Liverpool and Manchester. More of a surprise was the amount of young people here and the amount of girls. One person quipped about being back in the youth club.
As the people piled in, I met a guy who had been to the Newport and Stoke shows, who, it turns out, plays in Kismet-HC. I also met my old bandmate Paul Simmons (currently in Manchester), whom I hadn’t seen for about a year and a half. We chewed the fat as the first band, Yardstick, played. They were unimpressive from where I was standing, but I do admit to not paying much attention.
Drive were on next and plenty of people went down the front. I was surprised to see they have a new bass player and drummer, but they seemed to handle everything well. I’m not a big fan of Drive but they sounded ok tonight.
Victims Family hit the stage at about 10.15 and most of the 200 people there packed the dance floor and the band turned on an even better set than in London. The couple of mistakes they made (yeah, they made a couple!) were compensated for by the sound, which was great down the front. The crowd went apeshit for a while with plenty of friendly stagediving (which annoyed me, I’m afraid and things were going well til a bit of over excitement by the crowd landed the microphone full on Ralph’s nose (Ouch!). After a brief rest break, it was full steam ahead. The band played a couple of numbers as an encore but were cheered back for one more, to which the crowd went totally ape, and a piece of wood across the ceiling didn’t survive the stage diving. Phew! A good night all round.
After packing up and food nourishment, we returned to Mel’s place, where Tim quickly found the porn channel on satellite, but we watched MTV for about an hour, which, naturally, featured Nirvana (who MTV seemed to idolise) amongst the totally wishy washy shit of Bryan Adams and 2 Unlimited. Pretty soon, everyone fell asleep (funnily enough).
Before I forget, Ralph was tickled at the graffiti in the toilets at the Den, which read “I’m the devil, me!”
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE FOODS & WHAT PIZZA TOPPINGS DO YOU HAVE?
Ralph: Mexican, Indian, Chinese hot & sour soup. Any meatless pizza is cool with me. I’m sort of into rocheese (rotis?) as well.
Tim: Mexican food, pasta and pizza. Cheese, mushroom and olives.
Larry: Indian, Mexican and Italian. There’s a place in Vancouver that makes a veggie pizza with spinach and feta, that rules!
WHAT DOES THE HC SCENE HAVE TO OFFER THE “NAIVE CHILDREN” OF THE WORLD?
Ralph: Well, that song was written for this insufferably snobby booking agent we had one tour, and it’s basically about how sick the whole music biz bullshit makes me. HC offers an alternative to that, but I see the same kind of crap in the indie scene as well. HC (or DIY) offers people a chance to really be creative if they just use it.
Victims Family, Homage Freaks – Camden Underworld, London, UK – 20th March 1992
VICTIMS FAMILY/HOMAGE FREAKS
London Camden Underworld
People started rising at about ten (which was the time we were supposed to leave). The guy I was talking to about Buffalo Tom said he had to be at a band practice soon. I asked him what his band was and, would you believe it, he’s in the Wedding Present. Wow – hanging out with the stars! He looked a bit rough, actually, and explained he’d been drinking whisky before going to the show last night. How the other half live, eh!
Everyone was soon up except Josh, who looked really ill. The dog in the house soon got him up though, by jumping on his face! I got a lift back into Leeds as the band had to go to a music shop to make running repairs. We caused some hold up in the traffic as we found out we couldn’t get into the multi-storey car park cos the van was too high. Unfortunately, we didn’t find out til we were in it! After some delay, I got dropped off and found my car. Still there in one piece! And it started, first time!
On my way to Northampton to pick up some friends to go down to London. After some brief R&R in Northampton, we headed towards London. I was really tired by now and my car started playing up a bit too. I was a bit nervous of my car again, to say the least. Things were going just a bit too well!
We made it into London ok and even managed to park quite close. After a while bumming around, we went in and pretty soon the support band, Homage Freaks, came on. They were ok but a bit loud and tuneless in places.
A few more people came in and soon the Family hit the stage. The sound tonight was excellent and they got to play quite a long set (no breakdowns this time either). The audience was very appreciative but there wasn’t much dancing going on (possibly to do with a huge pillar right in front of the stage). As my friend Zoe said, “A bit difficult to boogie to.” Met friends from Southampton who were up for the night, and Rob made it too! Surprise of the night was meeting Paul, whose new band, Stockwell, I should get to see in a couple of days back in Southampton.
After saying goodbye to everyone I knew, and getting some chips, we headed back to the car. My body was just so tired, and driving back was no fun at all – but at least I knew I had a nice, comfy bed waiting for me. My car decided it was ok again and I was quite happy with that (phew!). I watched a bit of a totally crap war movie before hitting the sack for a cool 8-hour sleep!
WHAT IS YOUR IDEAL DREAM/FANTASY (BEARING IN MIND YOU’RE STUCK WITH THE SAME FIVE OR SIX PEOPLE?
Larry: If the six people could be Woody Allen, Frank Zappa, Michelle Pfeiffer, David Letterman, Eugene Chadbourne and me.
Ralph: To go somewhere warm! We’ve been touring for about 3 months now and I’m sick of freezing!!!
Tim: That every show is packed, nothing breaks onstage and everyone has a great time, I guess.
PRESUMING ELVIS, JIMI HENDRIX & SID VICIOUS HAD ALL LIVED, WOULD YOU HAVE STILL FORMED A BAND?
Ralph: Yes, I would have formed a band with Sid, Elvis & Jimi.
WHAT WAS THE ORIGINAL MOTIVATION BEHIND VF?
To boldly go where no other band would want to?
1994ever 