Tag: Joiners

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.

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.”

Paul Jay – STE Bulletin – 4th January 1994

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

LIFE BEGINS AT 30 WITH PAUL…

As you’ve probably already realised, this bulletin is dedicated to the memory of Steve Burgess, who sadly passed away on December 28th 1993. For those of you who weren’t fortunate enough to know him, he was one of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet.

From a personal level, I first met. Steve about 8 or 9 years ago, when he came to see SUICIDE PACT + then NOX MORTIS + from then on he was a regular at our gigs, always being a friendly + jovial character.

I remember the times a group of us used to go to London for gigs (from memory it seemed as though it was every other week), having to wait for the 2.45am train to Southampton on Waterloo station, completely fucked + pissed off we’d missed the midnight train, still in a weird way it was a laugh.

Steve was a person who (from what I understood + witnessed) totally devoted himself to his wife Chrissy + 2 kids (Amanda + Rebecca), whom he loved + adored, his football which I know he played several times a week + music which he was involved with + through which I got to know him. I remember seeing the bands he played in (CORPORATE GRAVE, ALL THE GLORY + THIRST) on many occasions, admittedly in a drunken haze, + lastly he was always there for his friends, a person you could talk to, he was always there to listen to problems.

He will sorely be missed by family and friends alike. R.I.P.

Lastly, there will be a collection + a raffle at the FABRIC gig at the Joiners on Saturday, January 15th + there will also be a number of benefit gigs organised in memory of Steve, with all proceeds from the gigs, going to Wessex Heart Foundation, so please give generously, as this will be greatly appreciated by those he left behind.

Cheers for taking the time to read this!!

*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.”