Tag: concert

We are still friends! – 27th November 2004

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cumbersome records instore

despite a good sleep, everyone is still tired this morning. we have a bit of time before loading all the gear but we don’t have the energy to go anywhere and there’s things to sort out here and there and before we know it – time’s up.

we head out to cumbersome in a hot humid muggy atmosphere – at least it’s not the 34 degrees that was predicted though it feels pretty close.

there’s no air con in cumbersome and the band decide a pretty short set is in order – this doesn’t deter them from rocking out and impressing the small but friendly crowd.

there’s a lot of good video footage today and hopefully you’ll get to see it one day – the rock ‘n’ roll photo opportunities come thick and fast. once again there’s lots of talking between band and audience after the show and limited express (has gone?) are always happy to make new friends.

yukari – “it was interesting to play in the daytime – we usually play at night but i could see the sun outside – it was great!”
koji – “nao (soundman) made a good recording of this show – so i’m happy. nao’s kids were very cute – i like them”
jj – “we’re comfortable with nao as our soundman so we’re confident about our sound – on stage sounds good and i think off stage too – we can play louder here because of the good vocal sound”

101 bar with ninety nine, morti viventi, flesh vs. venom

load out from cumbersome and ten minutes later load into 101 bar.

a quick dinner at the vegan fish and chip shop and then yukari and jj set up the gear while i take koji down to 3cr for a radio interview – thanks to matt for the invite after the cumbersome show. koji does pretty well and briefly enjoys the limelight but soon we’re back at the 101 to soundcheck and finally the band get to rest, though koji is determined to slake his thirst with beer.

i’m door bitch tonight so don’t really get to check out the other bands though jj runs back to take some video of each band so i’m assuming he likes them.

morti viventi sounded pretty awesome from my spot so go check them sometime.

limited express (has gone?) quickly raise the temperature in the already boiling room and burst through their set, once again with an amazing energy (we found yukari asleep only twenty minutes earlier!) and of course, the audience all seemed to enjoy it.

kudos tonight for the twitch nerve guys for coming back for more (and tomorrow too!) – lots of applause, lots of smiles, lots of happy people – special show time!

i’ve seen these guys play 9 times or so in the last week and i’m still loving their music, their attitude and their humour. god bless them!

koji – “i think i had a good show – audience was exciting but shaun was angry because i made a mistake so i felt sad. we are still friends!”
yukari – “i love ninety nine so much – i like music where i can dance. my throat is getting more sore but when i was onstage i had no problem because the audience inspired me to do my best – thank you to everybody.”
jj – “our performance is very good but our groove is not good maybe because we are tired and there is a lot of reverb in the room”

I am soundcheck! – 26th November 2004

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missing link instore

we got up early in an effort to get down to lygon street for breakfast though by the time we were sorted it was lunch time anyway – still, the food was great and we relaxed a little in the 30 degree plus heat. we found the source of jj’s technical problems, so feel confident everything should go well today.

so – load out from the house, load in to missing link, setup and wait – thank god for the air conditioning in the store!

gray daturas play first and churn out some nice sludgey noise – the set is short and sweet and the crowd are digging it.

anticipation mounts as limited express take the stage and play through a more poppy set (if you can call it pop!) with a great rendition of ‘donuts’ and much jj and yukari theatrics. everything goes without hitch and the band are happy and the crowd are happy too!

everyone comments on how happy limited express (has gone?) are on stage and how infectious their smiles become. special show time!

jj – “i did a good show – but we forgot to sell t-shirts – sorry!”
yukari – “in japan we can’t have a show in a record store because they are too mainstream”
koji – “i was a little nervous because i haven’t played many instores. i am soundcheck!!

pony with ai yamamoto & kaigen and twitch of the death nerve

after much chat we finally load out and head up to the pony to load in again! straight onto stage and the band are jamming out and instrumental soundcheck while soundman nao sets up around them. twitch of the death nerve looked impressed as they brought their kit in and were really looking forward to the show.

the room filled up and ai yamamoto and kaigen beat out some laptop noise and curious hip-hopisms which sounded great to me.

a few minutes later and twitch of the death nerve cranked up the pressure some with some very impressive genre bending stop on a dime twists and turns – they were cool and super nice guys too.

there seemed a genuine curiousity about limited express (has gone?) tonight and the crowd eagerly watched and enjoyed the best show of the tour so far.

the pony is a nice intimate venue and nao managed to get a good loud sound cranking. with a little bit of space in front of the stage it was the perfect opportunity for yukari and jj to mix it up with the crowd and the response was very enthusiastic indeed.

it took us a long time to get out of there as we sold a ton of merch and the band were asked to autograph cds and have a chat with near everyone in the place! cool cool – damn cool – tonight was the shit – but i reckon it’s going to get better!

jj – “awesome! awesome people – lots of applause – we had lots of fun together – our music is best enjoyed together – band and audience. australian audience is nice.”
koji – “last night was the best show in australia so far. fucking great show! everyone was nice – i like melbourne people.”
yukari – “now i don’t remember everything because i was too excited. i was glad many people told me ‘fantastic’ and ‘great!'”


mark from twitch of the death nerve had this to say after ‘special show time’:
“bands like limited express (has gone?) are capable of making someone’s year or even changing someone’s life. seeing artists who have delved so deeply and passionately into a world of their own inspires others to fight harder for their art. it reinforces peoples belief in the things that they already know, universal truths which reside in the minds and hearts of all people who truly believe in the significance of art. it is clear that touring a band like limited express (no matter how mind blowing) is a low profit venture. the fact that someone was prepared to lose money on them warms my heart.”

Fuck, that was cool! – 20th November 2004

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fbi interview with nick findlay

had to stir the band at 9am otherwise, they would’ve slept all day. after some pumpkin gnocchi breakfast koji and i played some soccer at the park while the others got ready. packed the car, dropped off the gear at the bowlers club, made a quick appearance at paint it black record store in newtown. the band are all keen to hear new australian music.

had a successful interview at fbi despite all our nerves and excitement. much kudos to nick who was very professional despite a crushed vertebrae. another quick look around red eye records and it was off to lunch and an interview for japanese newpaper info-m. the band is tired so we head up to the bowlers club where they all fall asleep on chairs as the sound guys work around them.


bowlers club with la huva, love of diagrams, youth group

just got the soundchecks finished in time – the sound guys aren’t too sure what to make of limited express (has gone?) but i know what’s coming. many introductions and friends were made with the other bands and with about 50 curious people through the door yukari, koji and jj ripped the place apart with their huge grins and bouncy theatrics.

must say many thanks to tim from la huva for coming to the rescue when jj broke a string and tim loaned his guitar for the final two songs.

so 30 minutes after the start of the samurai-koala show and there seemed to be 50 new fans all eager to talk to the band and purchase cds. yukari slept through some of la huva’s set – they were certainly different after limited express (has gone?) but had some really nice pop songs that everyone enjoyed. can’t stress enough – la huva are cool people.

had to pack up a lot of stuff and only managed to catch a few songs of love of diagrams whose music is as good as ever. we hope we can catch youth group another day.

koji “i was a little nervous because it was the first show but i enjoyed it very much”

jj “yeah – i was very nervous – we hadn’t played a show for one month until now. i was happy many people enjoyed our show”
yukari “i was so glad to see everyone’s smiling face”


maggotville show with pure evil trio and many other dj’s and bands

wow – now this place is cool – a warehouse location with a great diy feel, drunk punks and dogs running around and all. after grooving to misanthrope everyone got setup and the room started to fill – it was party time. champagne was served and the audience popped poppers (among other things i’m sure) and the balloons started flying.

with a much more intimate environment the bands grins were reflected right back at them and it was a joyous occasion for all. jj jumped straight on to the speakers and urged the audience on and surely, halfway through some drunk punks decided to join in during stop-go and even picking up the bass during tiger rock (and doing quite well at that!).

again many friends and fans were made. we all hung around to check out pure evil which all the band enjoyed for various reasons – yukari scoring a free album after smiling sweetly at pure evil’s bass player.

finally, at 2.15 am, it was time to head back for some food, some ping pong club and maybe even some sleep.

jj “the australian audience has a great reaction – i like the australian underground scene”

koji “i was a little scared of the punk crowd but they were cool”

yukari “when the guy got on stage and picked up my bass i felt it was great to have this kind of interaction and participation”

christine (new fan): “fuck that was cool!”

Huggy Bear, Bob Tilton, Thirst!, Persecution Complex – Joiners, Southampton, Hampshire, UK – 13th August 1994

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From Rich Levine’s encyclopedic memory banks:

“Another landmark & eventful gig for us! One evening I took a phone call from a bloke called Stuart asking us about a Joiners gig for HUGGY BEAR! Now as this was not too long after the height of the Riot Grrl media exposure & HUGGY BEAR had made a high-profile appearance on ‘The Word’ (Channel 4’s then flagship music show) my initial reaction was to suggest that he spoke to Mint about doing a Next Big Thing gig but Stuart was adamant that they wanted to play a D.I.Y. gig & that he knew all about the S.T.E.
When I met Stuart at the gig it turned out we recognised each other from London gigs & he was a friend of Sean from WAT TYLER! So we did the gig & there were no problems at all with how things worked – as per our usual way of working there was no contract or guarantee.
There were a couple of surprises though – the first was that a band from Plymouth called PERSECUTION COMPLEX turned up & ended up playing. The second was that Graham Coxon from BLUR was going out with one of HUGGY BEAR then & he accompanied his girlfriend to The Joiners.
Afterwards, when he heard that Coxon had been in attendance, Rob Turl exclaimed that he would have decked him if he’d known! 😉
THIRST! opened & their ‘Friend’ 7″ was out at this point (the very first SD Records release).
This was also the start of a long & wonderful friendship with the guys from TRAVIS CUT (Chris Evans, Mac Cut McDonald). We’d met them at a JAWBOX gig in their Harlow hometown earlier in the year & got in touch, loved their debut ‘Waking Hours’ 7″ & when Nottingham’s BOB TILTON, who were originally billed couldn’t do it (we’d have to wait for their first S.T.E. gig), they were an obvious replacement.
Afterwards TRAVIS CUT stayed at Jonny, Selina & Dave’s house in Maybush, me & Rob joined them & it was a wonderful evening.
The next day, just as TRAVIS CUT drove home to Harlow, a beautiful cat turned up almost as if he’d jumped out of their van. He stuck around & it seemed inevitable to call him Travis (Cat). I immediately struck up an affinity with Travis & a year later when Jon & Selina moved to a house where they couldn’t have cats, Travis moved in with me & lived with me for the next 14 years of his long life until his passing in 2009. R.I.P. Travis.
Sadly, Stuart the guy who booked the HUGGY BEAR date passed away some years back too.
The flyer backdrop photo was of a Japanese or Korean musician that I again purloined from The Observer or Guardian newspaper.”

5th Jan 2024 – I was selling off my records at the back of the room throughout this show and though I remember little of the supports, I was really into Huggy Bear’s music but at one point their hyperbole made me wonder what their point was as it was a little lost in the mess of noise coming from the stage. From the back of the room, I shouted out ‘Who are you and why am I here?’ to which Bronwyn shushed me. I thought it was quite a valid sentiment though not sure if anyone was paying attention really. And it really didn’t stop me from enjoying them at all.

Shutdown, Thirst!, Flaming Katie – Joiners, Southampton, Hampshire, UK – 16th April 1994

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5th Jan 2024 – Words from Rich Levine as I have little memory of this now and it seems I didn’t write anything at the time either:

“This was an emotional night. Steve’s memorial gig (there was also another remembrance gig around the same time at our old school Alderman Quilley in Eastleigh) saw his old band THIRST! continue with Philip Beevers from CHICKEN-BONE CHOKED joining. If we didn’t love the SHUTDOWN guys (Neil Cox, Christian Burton) already then them coming from Worcs to play this benefit gig for pretty much nothing cemented that feeling. FLAMING KATIE (Russell Pataki) played too & it was a night of both tears but also togetherness in friendship when this very close-knit scene came out to show their love and commemorate. Prior to his passing, Steve had planned to put out a poetry zine. In the aftermath, Rob & Shaun put this out as a tribute to Steve under the name ‘40,000 Reasons For Living’ (the title came from a line in the R.E.M. song ‘Texarkana’ which was played at Steve’s funeral) & the cover of the zine used the burning house photo that was on the sleeve of fIREHOSE’s ‘Ragin’ Full On’ LP. The same photo was used as the backdrop for this gig flyer.”

Wordbug, Useful Idiot, Haywire – Joiners, Southampton, Hampshire, UK – 26th February 1994

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27th Dec 2023 – Again, little memory of this show though I do remember enjoying Useful Idiot and commenting to one of them that I could feel a slight Beefheart vibe in their tunes. Here’s some words from Rich Levine:

“This date was originally booked for the return of Bristol’s NESSUN DORMA but unfortunately they messed up & turned up a month early on 26 January! Luckily we managed to get them on the bill of the indie band that was playing The Joiners that night & sorted them out somewhere to crash too I believe!
So we had the Exeter double bill of WORDBUG (Martin Edmunds) & USEFUL IDIOT (Paul Symes) & another support from HAYWIRE.
This was actually WORDBUG’s first gig for us, though they had played The Joiners previously. It was USEFUL IDIOT’s 2nd gig for us.
The flyer backdrop was from the SIDESHOW (Nebraska ‘Revolution Summer’ style stuff) 1st LP cover.”

Fabric, Chicken-Bone Choked, Haywire – Joiners, Southampton, Hampshire, UK – 15th January 1994

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27th Dec 2023 – Unfortunately, I have little recollection of this show except enjoying Chicken Bone Choked, and buying the Fabric 7″. Here is what Rich Levine wrote about it.

“We were all still in a state of shock over Steve’s passing & there had been some discussion between ourselves about cancelling gigs but on reflection, it was far better to keep busy & around this time I think people took strength from being with their friends. Certainly, I remember spending a lot of time with people either at the S.T.E. house in Eastleigh or Jon, Selina & Dave’s Maybush house.
Have to say I don’t remember too much about this gig (there was also a lot of drinking at this time & I didn’t keep a diary in 1994).
HAYWIRE were based up in Southampton by this time I think & whilst on the surface it may have been an odd choice to have HAYWIRE supporting FABRIC, I think this may have been due to our sense of mischief as someone from Weymouth had drunkenly said to Tony (from FABRIC) that they “hated people like him” at the GO! Joiners gig a few years previously! 😉 
This was FABRIC’s first gig for us (although Jamie had played for us in LONG COLD STARE), they were from London & they had their own Wiija-affiliated label Whole Car who also put out CHICKEN-BONE CHOKED’s Ed Wenn produced sole 7″.
This was CHICKEN-BONE CHOKED’s last gig for us as tensions between Philip & Simon came to a head – a shame as they were a fine band.
The flyer backdrop to this one was the cover photo to ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT’s ‘Paint As A Fragrance’ LP.”

*Chicken-Bone Choked, Older Than Dirt – Joiners, Southampton, Hampshire, UK – 18th December 1993

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Rich Levine: “THIRST! were due to play but had to pull out late on as Steve was ill……Initially, it was thought that Steve’s illness meant THIRST! couldn’t play the gig was pleurisy. Tragically & suddenly on the morning of December 28 1993, Steve died from a heart attack resulting from an undetected congenital condition. He was 24 years & left behind his wife Chrissy & daughters Amanda & Bex who was only 3 months old. Steve’s death left a big hole in the local scene.”