Tag: gig

Music is great! – 2nd December 2004

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

frequency lab with grey daturas, hit the jackpot, vincent over the sink

waiting waiting waiting at the airport – finally a customs guy finds us and wants to know why jj, yukari and koji have equipment with them – i just tell him they were recording before and have come back to sydney for one night before flying back to japan.

eventually limited express (has gone?) come out and we sheepishly load up the car and drive into the city to frequency lab.

we take everything up and vincent over the sink start pretty soon after – these two guys are great but we only get to check out a couple of songs before hunger calls.

we make it back to see hit the jackpot who are another wonderfully simple band – playing with a complete disregard to anything at all – they’re cool! i’m running around wondering if everything will be ok as the place fills – it looks to me as though the equipment is ropey and the drumkit will fall apart but it’s all there is…grey daturas manage to crank everything up a notch and chris on sound manages pretty well with the noise.

the place is packed now and no one else should be allowed in but it seems the place is getting more and more full as people squash right up to the microphones. a 10 second soundcheck and limited express (has gone?) special show time begins once again with ‘free style riding’ and ‘aloha!’

the grins are wide on everyone around and people are climbing over each other to get a view. the enthusiasm is running both ways as the band crank up the tempo, heat and intensity. jj makes his way into the audience during stop-go and yukari during tiger rock.

limited express (has gone?) finish special show time with another crazy run through ‘talk to me, all right’ and a ripping version of spy which disintegrates into a squall of noise before a jj jump to full stop.

the audience won’t let them go though and beg for more so get treated to a beautiful rendition of ‘drawtoborn’ and another quick run through ‘free style riding’ after which jj and yukari get carried through the crowd to rapturous applause.

everyone is happy!
everything is good!
limited express (has gone!).

jj – “thank you sydney audience! thank you punk rock! we are rock and roll! certainly we will come here again”
yukari – “it is no problem, language or different country, music is great!”
koji – “tonight we rose to the occasion and the last show of the tour was a great show”

I am soundcheck! – 26th November 2004

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 3 Comments

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.”

Melbourne people are good – 25th November 2004

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

tote hotel, mebourne with lung upc, seedy three, deep where all drown

the weather has been kind in melbourne and today is about 30 degrees and we’re eating breakfast in the backyard before a quick check out of the city with some cd shopping, coffee, mailing, coffee, trams and coffee.

we figure out how to squeeze all the gear and all the band in the van and a dumbass parking inspector decides we need a ticket as we unload. the evening and night seems to timewarp as we either wait for things to happen and then everything happens too fast.

we miss soundcheck because we’re eating some nice indian food and before we know it lung upc are up and on stage playing some nice droney psyche with big riffs.

seedy three rock like cowboy motherfuckers though be careful not to call them that, for your mom’s sake.

limited express hit the stage and rock out in their usual way – it’s hard to gauge the audience reaction as i’m videoing them but everyone seems enthusiastic during the breaks.

around song five jj discovers the wonder of technical problems and the usual active express is stuck at the station as things get sorted out. it gives yukari a chance to interact with the audience at least. things get rolling again but another song later and jj gives it away while yukari and koji noisily end the set – short, sweet and fucked up.

despite the problems and kinda subdued audience reaction many people come up later and buy cd’s, chat to the band and we all ask them to come and see ‘special show time’ again and promise no problems.

apparently this is the first time ever they’ve had any problems. we’ll sort out the gear in the morning and make sure it’s all ok – and also make sure to get a soundcheck from now on!

kudos to the guy who turned up late and missed the set but bought a cd anyway.

oh yeah – before i forget, deep where all drown finished off the night with some really good hard assed in your face rock – check them out!

koji – “melbourne is a very stylish city – melbourne people are good – kawaii”
jj – “i’m surprised – there’s a nice music scene. many customers grow up to be musicians”
yukari – “i’m sorry that i couldn’t give everybody a good gig, but so happy people came even though they have to work tomorrow”

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

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

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.

Every day would get thrilliner and thrilliner – 5th May 1994

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

sidenote: Remember this mad bad blues band?

It’s all a blur of frenzied activity but here’s the gist. Stocktake over and it’s a glorious sunny day. I get drunk and talk to lady next door while Broni is off talking jumpers and work with Rosemary (getting good possible offers of work). I’m asleep drunk, tired and sun-scorched. Broni returns and we, with John, opt for Indian fool and blues music but we flake it early on and it’s back to dreamtime.

Next glorious sunny day and it’s down to Bournemouth and the record fair to see our friends Barry and Gary, being their usual fun selves. Happy and laughing we came out richer in pocket and in heart. Checked out the beach half searching for cynical Rich in his sandwich board. Back home to our sunny backyard before mad motorway dash once again to watch grown men run around with a football for 90 minutes. This being Steve’s memorial football match. Me, I’m grumpy but enjoyed talking to Chrissy and Karl Barry. Soon home again via mothers and back into bed.

Early morning rise and straight to the beach for early morning coffee (I actually pack for parcels of records before we leave – up very early today). In search of decent food, we spend a fortune at Safeways and proceed to drink away the day in the backyard, with brief excursions into football and kite flying with John and Sarah and Morbaina (this cool Zimbabwean dude). On into the night and we barbecue with our new roommate Simon and we drink and drink. Phew!

Up at five next morning to get Broni on the bus to London and then into work – I’m really pissed off and run off a series of poems before I start to feel very ill and decide to come home. I talked to Broni and tell her I miss her (very much). Hightail highway again, this time to go see Rollins Band in Portsmouth with all the crew. Tony buying beer and Selena not drinking?! Dig play and impress, Rollin’s music doesn’t impress but his presence is awesome. Not totally overawed though!

On return to Eastleigh, me and Rob fight sleep and talk about life and its people till three or so. Rich and Rob go off to work and I read magazines and play records to my aching heart’s content.

Broni rings and seems happy and I hope to see her later in London. I go off to Chrissy’s and try to keep Amanda busy – she is in a particular spoiled brat mood – dear girl. Rebecca is a beauty though! Ah! Chrissy feeds me and I must dash off to collect Rob for another roadbuster to mighty city to see old pals Victims Family. I talked my goddamn head off in the fat London traffic while Rob directs. Soon there inside gig we sell poetry to eager punters and watch Victims Family plough through their last set of their tour. I talked to Ralph for a while, he says they hope to get to Australia someday. I also meet that old dude Rob from Corby and chat before we exit during Grotus’ set.

On the streets, everyone’s celebrating Arsenal’s European victory and I ring Broni at Piers’ and organise a quick visit. Down the road, we enter this huge house and into Piers’ cool yuppie type flat, adorned with great obscure works of art. Broni is a bit self-conscious but that’s okay – soon on again then and coffeed up we drive any old ways out of town. Twice awake and half asleep. A great conversation on the way home reminds me of talking to Steve again! I dash straight to Poole after dropping Rob and back to beautiful bed! Soon awoken by beautiful Broni’s early morning call and knowledge that she returns tonight.

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

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

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

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

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

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

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

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

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.”