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Review: 'Wingmen, JC Carroll and Desperate Measures NZ'
'Live at O2 Islington Academy.'   


-  Genre: 'Punk/New Wave' -  Release Date: '21.1.23.'

Our Rating:
This was the third ever gig by Wingmen the latest lockdown supergroup to become a real actual group, in case you missed out on who these mysterious men are the Wingmen are Paul Gray, Leigh Heggarty, Baz Warne, Marty love and their own live Wingman Rob Coombes, who doesn't make it onto the t-shirts.

But before such fun unfolds firstly a grumble in this cost of living crisis, as the venue now charges an extortionate 4 quid an item for use of the cloakroom, so our 4 items were 16 quid rather than the 4 quid the 100 Club charged for the same service last week, this will hardly encourage use of the service.

Now back to the important business of the actual live music, on first were Desperate Measures NZ with the band's current line-up of Eugene Butcher on vocals with James Sherry on drums and Mick Gaffney on Guitar alongside Ricky McGuire on bass. They were one of two acts we missed last week at The Resolution Festival at The 100 Club along with JC Carroll who was playing it with The Members. They were already on when we stumbled through the door and Eugene was singing about getting Back To The Grind as they sounded really good, as Gaff's guitar did all sorts of stuff.

I guess the next song was Fuck It as Eugene kept repeating it as James Sherry's drums drove things along at a good pace. They had a good go at the idiots ruling the roost these days on The Rich-Tual as Eugene stalked the stage punching the air at regular intervals as Ricky's bass thundered things along.

Flowers At Your Door sounded tighter than it did last time we saw Desperate Measures, with a more Stooge like rumble coming through on Hells Angels as Gaff's guitar really took off.

They then got properly apocalyptic on what I guess was called Enjoy The Ride but may well be Scars & Memories either way the guitars brewed up a storm before they closed with the as ever riotous 1984 that takes us back to the mean streets of Christchurch, while leaving most of us wanting some more Desperate Measures.

In the middle spot and billed as Special Guest is the legendary JC Carroll lead singer and guitarist for The Members who was playing solo with an acoustic guitar and I-Pad, this was a great tightly focused set from the opening of The Boy From Nowhere this was full of songs of alienation while being on the outside.

Apathy In The UK sums up the state of the nation quite well. JC dug deep into the back catalogue to take us to the Chelsea Nightclub once more, so he can hang with his Main Squeeze, getting into the sort of trouble that happens in a club that doesn't open till after this venue has closed it's doors for the evening.

As ever Offshore Banking Business is introduced as the song that made The Members record company freak out, but it is as relevant as ever, as we found out this weekend that the man who was chancellor of the Exchequer at the time managed to underpay his tax by 5 Million quid due to some Offshore Banking Business gone wrong.

The next song was about the urge to commit suicide and how you deal with it, I guess the song is called I'm Drifting, it has some thought provoking lyrics and some cool guitar from JC with the faintest backing tracks from the I-Pad.

JC then revealed his real influences with a couple of well-chosen covers first was Bowie's Changes that got a good few people singing along, but nothing like the mass sing along to Punk hero Tom Jones classic murder ballad Delilah, that was sung in a similar arrangement to John Otway's versions, only with less comic value, it was great fun and had the loudest sing along of the night.

It was then time for the title track to The Members box set with Bedsitland being dedicated to anyone whose lived in a Bedsit either as a Teenager or more worryingly as a 50 plus divorcee. Of course JC closed with a mass sing along to Sound Of The Suburbs to guarantee he left everyone smiling at the end of a really good set.

Soon enough on came Wingmen to show just how tight a band they are, from the opening blasts of the instrumental Starting Blocks we were at the races. My last Cigarette could have been dedicated to these times as no one smokes at gigs anymore , this also had some nifty guitar interplay between Baz Warne and Leigh Heggarty.

Baz gave us a little bit of background information before Louis Smokes The Bible that was played as a punk rave up, with some good harmony backing vocals as they roll that massive spliff using a page from the Gideon's In the hotel room. Brits was dedicated to our ability to moan and complain about everything including bald lead singers who keep their hats on and audience members who show up in Scottish military uniforms.

This lot had obviously taken a crash course for the ravers at some point before they blasted through Bowies Hang Onto Yourself at a cracking pace that got loads of us singing and dancing along.

I Would If I Could takes a cold hard look at the state of the NHS and how they would pay if they could afford too, this had some pinpoint bass from Paul Gray set against the harsh guitar lines.

Down In A Hole was sharp edged pop punk that led us to Mary Go Round as Baz discussed why she might wear that long black veil once more.

They then played a good brooding version of Kraftwerk's The Model that lacked the harshness that Big Black brought to this monument but was good and angular. Oh What A Carry On could be a description of the between song banter, let alone this incisive song about the collective insanity that led to Brexit and the mess we are currently in.

Well as ever Baz and Paul were fighting over the rider Backstage At The Opera as Baz no longer has fights over who gets to use the hair dryers. Soon enough it was Raining All Over England once more, that as it came to a close, Leigh Heggarty hit one of the most classic of all punk intro's about perfectly as they stormed through I Got A Right nailing this Iggy & The Stooges classic and getting a good few if us dancing like idiots once more, it was a brilliant way to close the set.

They came back for a well-earned encore that opened with a rambunctious sing along to Eddie & The Hotrods classic Do Anything You Want To Do after which they stormed though T-Rex's Solid Gold Easy Action like men covered in glitter, who were ready to party all night long as the song came to a close we got a couple of chorus of Pumping On Your Stereo before they all rushed outside for some Super grass. All the bands on tonight's bill are well worth catching live.
  author: simonovitch

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