Come On a Quick Saturday Night Journey Thru Camden

I know the woman who has put together a incredibly awesome two day fest in Camden at the many venues that make this part of London the freakin' best! The vibe in Camden is one that is not duplicated almost any where else in the world. Artists, musicians, Amy Winehouse, addicts, dealers, music fans, drunks, hipsters, vendors, restaurants, pubs and whatever else makes this pot of people make it what it is; beautiful in a ugly, urban way. Have to experience it for a few days to soak up the vibe and all that this small part of London contains. So this event is called; The Camden Crawl (http://www.thecamdencrawl.com/), as that is what you will be doing by nights end. Must be 20 or so venues to see hundreds of acts over two days. Some big ones (Gang Of Four, Cornershop) and some new buzzing acts (The Drums; everyone wanted to see them), but it is void of any HUGE promoter (ie Jam, Live Nation, AEG) so it had a nice indie vibe and products were not being shoved down your throat at every turn. Very refreshing for a change! Only sponsor I got out of it was a cider company and MTV was doing some promo blasts on cable. I have to say that Lisa (my friend who put this together) did a top notch job!

I had four tickets to the early show at the legendary Roundhouse venue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roundhouse); so David, Terrie Jean, Lidia and myself loaded into a black cab and headed for Camden from our location in Dulwich!
It wasn't raining, but it was ready to unload and unload it did when we arrived near the Roundhouse. We jump out of the black cab and find our bearings, The Roundhouse is ahead about a block as it starts to rain heavier. This place is way cool and has a ton of history, it was originally used to turn the locomotives around and was the only place The Doors played in London. It is round and very maze like on the outside and on the inner outside halls while the main room is very "thunder dome" like. Some cool iron work and has a very nice flow to it with some killer sight lines; even Lidia could see from the back!! We are inside on the ground floor and I am trying to figure out where the hell the venue is. We do find the bar; it's England and it's a law a bar must be within so many feet of every social event, so we order some beers and cider. I find the stairs and we ascend to the second floor and enter the the space to the beginnings of Calvin Harris with a full band.

Now I discovered Calvin several years ago as he burst onto the UK chart and dance scene with a sledgehammer of singles that are the most infectious and danceable ditties you ever wanted to move to. "Acceptable In The '80's" "Girls" and "Merrymaking At My House" were the three breakout songs for this wee Scottish lad in the UK charts. It was part of my soundtrack for half of 2007 and most of 2008. Just some of the best and most simple dance grooves from this decade! He is a bit nerdy, the lyrics are funny and the music is nothing but aural goodness

He does two types of shows, one a DJ set and the other with a full band and that is what I wanted to see and we did. The band was tight and spot on for each song. Calvin was part DJ, part maestro and part lead singer; all culminating in a very nice front man. This was the early show of two different shows at The Roundhouse this evening and Calvin's show was PACKED! We missed the support act; The Sugarbabes, a all girl act from the UK that has charted quite a bit over the years (more about Lidia's Sugarbabes encounter after the show later on in this story). What we walked into was a full on dance party with Sir Calvin orchestrating the band and crowd into a frenzy. It seemed like hit after hit, just kept drinking and moving to the groove. He has a interesting cross section for an audience; gays, little girls, club kids, the indie crowd and all of us were dancing fools; happy dancing fools. He played all the hits including "Ready For The Weekend" and "You Use To Hold Me" which put a big smile on my face. We walked out to the patio/balcony bar during the encores for a quick drink and some rain.

I was still massively buzzing from Calvin's set and the beers, that is when I had a genius idea! Instead of walking around Camden in the rain, queueing (this is a national pastime in the UK, they love a good line) in the lines outside each club; I am going to buy 4 tickets to the Pendulum and Plan B show in The Roundhouse in ninety minutes. I do like Pendulum and they are doing a 'Live" set tonight and BBC 1 have been all over Plan B, so let's do this! I run down to the box office and am told "Sold Out"; shit! Go outside and look for the touts (ticket scalpers here in the states) and I spot one right away as the rain goes into overdrive. My man has only two tickets and I say I need four and start to leave, "No mon, my partner has more". So I stand there in the rain as I try to suss the situation and eyeball my new acquaintances; these guys are way to small and thin to try any funny business. His guy comes over to us and says he has one ticket; hold on, two tickets emerge from his pocket that look like my homework from the first grade; F*CKEDUP!! I peruse the scraps and determine now they are all legit and I now go into negotiating mode with my two new, tiny London friends. You have to understand that I am one of the tallest people in London when I visit; or so it seems. Everyone is so small and fairly skinny. As I stated before, they are very small, thin and very street. I am predicting in my mind I should be able to close a good deal for the four tickets. Now the two ticket gangsters try their bit on me (their accents are half south London mixed with a Jamaican drawl and half of what they are saying wizzes past me) and say they need one hundred pounds for all four tickets and I let out a big laugh and stand a bit taller over them. "Guys you must be really high, I was thinking fifty and that's generous" is the reply from my dripping head. We settle on sixty five and I leave happy with my four tickets and meet the gang at a lovely kind of do it yourself tapas place across the street from the venue. Nando's I believe is the name and a chain to boot also. We had some lovely small plates and some more lager. When I sat down, I think it was Terrie Jean said one of the Sugarbabes (Amelle Berrabah) was right over there eating with a guy. No entourage and no security, she actually sang on their biggest single which was number 1 for a month. Almost immediately Lidia and I had the same "light bulb" moment; we have to get her a Evil Kitty card and say we would love to send her some designs. But how does Lidia do this without seeming like a stalker or crazy? It took her about twenty minutes to screw up the nerve to approach her and when she finally made her move.....Amele was GONE....ARGHH!!! We blew a opportunity to get Evil Kitty on the paparazzi pages in the UK tabloids. Just as we were sinking back into our seats, she emerges from the loo; brilliant. Lidia makes a beeline to her and she is quite friendly and receptive. She takes her business card and says she will let the other two girls know about it also. Score and nice one Lidia.

The whole time we are watching the line outside The Roundhouse grow to monstrous proportions in the downpour. As I said before, the English LOVE a good queue and this was staring to take on length of three city blocks. Since it seems to rain everyday in London at some point and loving queue's; I guess standing in line in the rain is something that is ingrained into their DNA; just love that stuff and I can not stand waiting, lines or the rain. Bit of a fascist when it comes to those three, but I was soon queueing in the rain and loving it. We went to a pub next door and drank two pints in the rain and I was lectured by the women how I need to get a grip and learn how to wait. OK; Let's go stand in line in the rain, i give....uncle!! It wasn't that bad and it only took us about ten m unites as the idea to get some pints led to the line being drastically reduced. Now all this before has just been the lead up to what I actually want to tell you what I witnessed as the support act started the second show. This is what I want; no, need to tell you. This kicked my ass and blew me away.....Plan B!

To get a small picture of what I saw and heard this night; you need to check out his two most recent singles. "Stay To Long" and the amazing "She Said".

Plan B is basically this white kid from London with a tight backing band and singers. The band is very young also and hot as hell. Ben Drew (Plan B) has been called the British Eminem. That is so far off point it makes me laugh...HA! He is a bit that; but only a tiny part. He sings like Marvin and Al, he has the soul in his voice that comes thru like you hear in "Heard It Thru The Grapevine" and "Tired Of Being Alone". It was one of the single best sets of music I have witnessed in years. We danced and grooved for the better part of an hour. He finished and brought the house down with "Stay To Long" and it rocked us and the four thousand people to the roof of this terror dome. I felt like I had witnessed the next thing that will shake up the stagnant music world. I was tingling and happy as could be. What a discovery and we still had Pendulum. Oh yeah, Pendulum. Don't get me wrong, they rocked and we did stay for six or seven songs, but I was Plan B'd up and wanted to leave before that buzz in my head died. So we jumped in a cab and headed for Dulwich and beers and silly talk 'til dawn. I still listen to both those songs everyday and think this is the shit. Best night, Best wife, Best friends, Best band, Best place to be.....

Peter Steele RIP....My Brush With An Interesting, Mysterious and Sad Man

I had not seen or talked to Peter Steele of Type O Negative for over a decade. In fact I kind of forgot about him and his band the last ten years I guess. Not that I stopped being a fan of his band or of him personally; I dig both (and will always have a special place for both in my ticker). No; it was just I stopped promoting metal shows, managing metal bands and stopped touring all together. Peter was the essence of opposites. He was very dark and private, yet he would always initiate every conversation when I would see him and he had the best and darkest sense of humor. His music and lyrics were also the same. A goth band who were too metal and a metal band that was to goth and punk. Their first lp was "Slow, Deep and Hard" is a classic album in every sense. It broke so many boundaries in the metal and goth scenes; hell the whole music scene and business. They were their labels first gold record; something they accomplished against all odds. So reading he passed away last week was a real bummer and has been playing in my movie theatre in my head since I heard over the weekend. I had some moments with Peter and the band and all that came rushing back into my video player in my head. I promoted a bunch of his shows, toured with him and had some great (intense now I look back) conversations with him. I have met a lot of people (too many?) in my life and .01% ever really impacted my life with their personality and presence; Peter definitely did and some of it has stayed with me in life and business (we both sucked at love then).

I first met Peter....wait a minute, let's back up almost a year to the day in 1991 when Roadrunner Records sent me the promo cassette and lp of "Slow, Deep and Hard". There were metal bands and there were goth bands; but no one had successfully combined the best of both (god knows both genres have some bloated, cheesy types) to really take it up a notch. Well Peter and his long time buddies from Brooklyn were well up to the challenge. They delivered a record that to this day still sounds fresh and boundary breaking; just a really good album from start to finish. It was tongue in cheek lyrics, pounding rhythms, song titles than were mind boggling and Peter's insanely deep vocals. Nothing generic or phony ever seem to enter their realm. They knew it was just music and loved to poke fun at themselves and the ironic world we exist in. The cheese was meant to be way cheesy and the metal was a hard as anyone, some of the songs were a highway that incorporated almost ever musical style you can think of. A Baroque piano solo then a slow funeral chant that takes a right turn into the fasted 4/4 punk rock beat and ends you in a haze of Pete's deep growl, pounding drums and whirling keys. Thinking man's metal and goth? Hell no, real music from a real world with all the escapism you need to cope. I just remembered I had actually first had contact with Peter by phone in the mid 1980's. His first band was Carnivore, a NYC metal band that I had tried to get to come out to Chicago to play one of my shows. As a punk and metal promoter in the '80's I was way into the whole NYC hardcore and metal scenes. I had brought out Agnostic Front, Murphy's Law, Cro-Mags, Ludichrist, Crumbsuckers, Leeway all for their first shows here in Chicago. So I was trying to track down Carnivore as they had no agent or manager at the time. They pretty much only played the east coast as they all had decent, good paying straight jobs. I had somehow gotten a hold of a 718 (Brooklyn!!) number. Someone at their label said call this number and someone from Carnivore will answer. So I called, Peter answered and we proceeded to talk about them coming out to Chicago to play one of my shows at Metro. He explained that he had a good paying job with the parks department of Brooklyn and they could only play locally weekends. But he was hoping they could do a small tour when they all had vacation dates together. Well they broke up before that and all the planning in my head went south.

So we move ahead several years and I am doing shows at a all ages club called Medusa's and I have a Exploited show at the club. Exploited are the consummate knucklehead punk rock act from Scotland. Wattie is the singer and thick as a brick. But he has one of the best mohawks http://www.bandswallpapers.com/img27.htm in music...super dumbass though. I booked the show and then was told they had two NYC support acts; I should say BROOKLYN acts; Biohazard and Peter Steele's new band, Type O Negative. Weird I thought as neither band was punk by any means; but I loved both acts and this will be a packed show. I remember Peter and the boys walking up the stairs at Medusa's; four black and leather clad, black long hair and not a smile in sight as they strode towards me. I said, "Peter?" and with a huge baritone comeback I heard "yes" in a slow Brooklyn drawl. I proceeded to explain to them were to load in their equipment and who was my sound man to check in with. I mean they had long blacker than black hair and they all has black leather trench coats and huge, heavy boots....yeah, yeah BLACK!! They looked awesome and fearless. They looked like they meant business and were all about kicking ass on and off stage. So i figured that this would be a very interesting situation; as they were goth, metal rockers and the vast majority of the 500+ crowd was hardcore punk. I have to say that there was a ton of puzzled looks from the mohawked ones in front of the stage waiting for their Scottish hero, Wattie. Peter stepped to the mic and said something in the vein of where they were from and who they were and that everyone was probably going to hate them. I had to chuckle as they launched into some amazing songs off their first cd. Needless to say the punks hated them, BUT Peter and the boys more than kept their own and his derogatory, self degrading humor disarmed any tough guy ready to step up and challenge old boy.They did a blazing thirty minute set and just said goodnight. I found Peter backstage and said how much I loved the set and thought that he was hilarious and I dug how he handled the adversity of the situation. They hung for Biohazard's set and then left.
Next time I saw and hung with Peter and the band was on their Bloody Kisses tour http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVaHG_QMvNk. I was the promoter here in Chicago and did it at a cheesy metal club above a dinner and pinball arcade. This was the record that went platinum and broke new ground for a lot of fellow bands. They ended up touring over two years to make this record go thru the roof. My show was early on this mega gigantic tour that would see them play every part of the world and open for every major rock act. This was a small headline show that the band seemed into. They were not as nearly burnt as when I saw them over a year later supporting Pantera. Bands seem to blow up over night, but it is a slow, arduous grid at best. It can steal your very soul right before your life. It can be the best of time and the very worst of times. Reality and real relationships seemed suspended in this nefarious area as you drift from state to state and country to country. I did see Pete laugh and joke, but that was mostly the early years. He never really loved touring I felt, but understood the necessary evilness of it. This was also the first time I saw how he had become; "wanted" and "needed", something that I think freaked the shit out of him. They played a thunderous sound check and Pete and I were standing outside the club talking about a lot of stuff; this guy was smart and worldly, something most of his metal compatriots severely lacked. I remember this very clearly, this woman who was intensely striking and even more so goth, walked up to us; or I should say Pete and basically handed him a black rose (with thorns of course) and a bottle of the darkest red wine. She whispered into his ear for a good 30 seconds or so and he said "Goodbye Sean, I will see you in a little while" and proceeded to walk off into the sunset with her. But I wasn't finished Pete!! Dude come back.....(Just Kidding!)
I saw him briefly backstage at a few big shows they were supporting the afore mentioned Pantera tour, Queensryche and some other big rock act that escapes me. The band seemed to be in a whirl, as the record seemed to just gain more momentum a year after it had come out. New radio versions were recorded for single play and the cover of Seals and Croft's "Summer Breeze" was getting a lot of a lot airplay. Brilliant cover version that they completely make their own and make it slow and hard! Skip several years ahead to their nest release "October Rust" and I spend several weeks on tour with him as I get my band I was managing on several weeks worth of Type O dates. The last record went platinum and pressure from their label seemed to be high, as they wanted even more sales. So this record became their most accessible, but still had some awesome moments. Now I must digress here for a moment to give a bit of back history about a girl we both had spent some time with differing ends for each. A friend who had become more than a friend to me had been very taken with Pete and she had gotten close to him over several tours on the previous record. From the beginning Pete was in HUGE demand from the girls backstage or anywhere for that matter. A 6' 8" Goth Adonis; even I was impressed and thought the ladies must have good taste. So we end up going out for a while and I finally ask her about the man and the interludes, her feelings and what happened and I should probably shut up; but kept banging on as I quite liked him and was infatuated out of my mind with her. He was everything I thought, someone deep, considerate and not really into the temporal things life on the road offered up every moment. Plus she said the Playgirl photo's were pretty spot on; OMG!! Ironically our feelings mirrored each other, but for the wrong person. I was into her and she was way into Pete. She had been with other rock stars, but Pete seemed to be the one that struck that special mark. So we went our separate ways and I think she saw Pete one more time and they just had a drink and chat and he was gone. So back to the tour, we arrive in Colorado Springs and it's the first night of the tour and the stage is small; really small. Most acts would have kicked us off the bill, Pete laughed and said there was plenty of room and we played a set in front of a sold out house. This was to be one of many nice things Pete did for me and my band thru out the tour. He had his own tour bus at this point and I hung with him several times on it. The most personal time I had with Pete was in Lawrence, Kansas the night the tour was playing the Granada theatre. The dressing rooms were in the basement in catacombs and we had the smallest one as we were the first of three acts on the tour (Life Of Agony were middle act and there because of Pete also) and he found us as usual and asked us what he always asked us. "You guys ok?” you guys need anything; let me know" and "That was a good set the other night in Colorado". He always watched the support bands every night for at least 4 or 5 songs. I know because he would watch my sad band with me each night of the tour. So Life Of agony are playing inside and I feel like a bit of fresh air and walk out into the alley. On one of the loading doors someone had pinned Pete's Playgirl centerfold to that door. I know it's a college town, but it seemed like a sad and desperate attempt at humor. I took it down trying not to look to closely and have this burned into my tiny mind. He was ripped and he was hung is all you need to know! I walked over to the tour bus area and saw Pete standing by his bus. I walked over and said hey and once again thanked him for being so Pete and cool. As usual he said it was absolutely nothing at all. His pleasure and I truly believe that to this day. I asked if I could check out his ride and I got the tour. It was pretty freakin' cool. His own bus with a small gym, a recording studio to do demos on tour and a kind of master bedroom. The place so many wanted to be, but never made it. We talked for a while and talked about more than the tour and music. He was very philosophical and loved the irony in everything. He seemed way older and wiser than his years and he seems very alone. I know he was a bit bummed about the Playgirl thing, as I think he was misled as how big the female readership was: 25%. Not regretful at all, just felt fooled I think. I told him how our mutual acquaintance had big feelings for him and she was pretty worthy of such undertakings. He said she was very nice, but that he had a hard time with relationships lately and also touring so much leads to nothing but trouble in steady relationships. Seemed so sad and final in his mind regarding that other person of matter. We ended the tour a few shows later and we all returned to our previous lives. Pete went home and from reports had a bit of a hard time mentally and emotionally. He had some issues with the law and lost some close people to him. I truly cherish the time and experiences I had with Pete and his band. Only thing I regret is I could have had more face time, but such is life. He seemed a bit adrift in a packed city and industry. Like that video EBN/OZN (the video, not the song content) where the guy is stationary and everyone is flying by (http://www.spike.com/video/aeiou-sometimes-y/2794312); kind of disconnected. Not really positive what he died of: heart attack they are saying, but I am sure it was a long time coming. The music world will miss a true genre pioneer, but more sadly the world will be one down on the "Good Guy" count. Goodnight Pete and THX again for sharing a moment or two with me: it always rocked in my mind. Peter Steele (January 4, 1962 – April 14, 2010)

Depeche, Johnny Rotten and Freezing London

It has been way too long since I wrote some things that have been happening and building in my brain. December was insane and Lidia and I did not have a extra minute for anything. We did find out that Kirk and James did get the clothing for their kids. Lidia did her last Evil Kitty event at her new space in the Creative Lounge in Wicker Park and did very well! We had several orders for Xmas on Evil Kitty website from Russia, South Pacific, Ireland and London which turned out to be only several miles from where we spent 12 days sleeping. We are both in the middle of changes and major decisions for and about Evil Kitty and the Abbey; announcements will be made here first!

So with that all said; I am standing outside on a fast boat ripping down the Thames River on a Tuesday night in mid December drinking a beer. Yes it's London and "Hell Yeah" it's on. It's been less than thirty six hours since I was packing at 4am after my last show on my way to O'Hare. No sleep Sunday night and maybe five tough hours Monday night after I arrived. So it's rush hour in the Docklands area along the Thames in southeast London and I feel as if I can almost fly. For the next 2 weeks, I have little if any responsibility back in Chicago (in London I only have to stay alive) and everything looks, tastes and feels magnificent. So standing on a fast boat cutting it's way down the heart of London is the best place in the universe to be right now. I have been past tower Bridge tons of times are have never seen it move an inch; but tonight it is going up for a tall ship and it looks pretty freakin' cool; as do all the modern buildings along the river that have a fierce sparkle to them tonight, or is it me? I am in the company of David and the lovely Terrie Jean. She is basically the group leader as David and I are "three sheets to the wind" (arrhh...nautical talk matey). We find the massive O2 and disembark not having bought the tickets and realize it is not possible to sneak by gratis. So we buy the tickets and leave the pier for Depeche Mode at the Godzilla looking O2. I have to say one of the things I like about London at Christmas is that it's usually anywhere from 50 degrees to mid 30's; comfy and moist. This year it was a hard freeze gripping the UK and most of Europe and tonight was one of many cold ass nights we were to experience. Man it was cold, so of course the will call line was outside and I had to wait for our tickets. Once in hand, we had to decide what to do as the O2 is a massive structure and the arena is only as small part of it. There is a huge multiplex, numerous bars and restaurants. No or little heat in the bar areas had us running into the arena and the main floor. Grab beers and walk out onto the main floor and find a place that was near and not to crowded a third of the way back. I had been trying to find out if there was a support act and who it was; no one seemed to know until I finally asked the sound man and he mentioned "yes" there was support and "blah blah blah" were the act. Crap I thought, we are too early and we have to suffer thru a opening act we need not see; ever! Sometimes being early for a show can lead you to see a great band that will break thru in a year or so. On the other hand, it can be a really boring and upsetting 45 minute to an hour of sh*t music. It was the latter for this evening and it kind of brought the party to a slow down. I have purposely blocked out their name as they were the epitome of cool but translates as Dumb-asses. They acted as if this gig was a huge bother and they couldn't wait to go back to their flats. So the answer was a piss, more beers and bits so that by the time the guys from Depeche started their set; I was levitating a bit and was ready to move to the groove.

Depeche Mode; a band that is very chameleon like, but yet always stays to their core roots. The core is a beat that no matter the speed of the song, defines it in it's essence. This is not throw away pop like Brittany or N'Sync and it is not the guitar driven pop of REM or U2; it's seems to be a hypnotic chorus with a big dance floor rhythm coupled with intensely personal and sing song-ey lyrics. I did see them on this tour in early August at Lollapalooza and they sucked; rather the whole thing sucked and sucked hard. Never saw a bad DM show and that was a stunner. I blame Lolla organizers and DM also. 8pm starting time in a field full of yuppies is the the conducive arena for Depeche; no way! Sound blew, the crowd was annoying and the set was a "phone in" from the boys. I left really upset and was left thinking that all these past shows, tours and records were all a lie....F*CK! So the stars were aligned in that I was in London and got tix to see once and for all if they do suck now; say it ain't so Dave! I was right, it was the venue and the wrong place and time for them in Chicago. Depeche came out and threw down and rocked the 20,000+ at the O2 this evening; even me. They started with three new songs off their newest cd; Songs Of The Universe. Not sure why three right in a row; maybe that was the oft putting thing at Lolla, but they started with "In Chains" then into "Wrong" and "Hole To Feed". The guys seem to do fairly well with all the nuances that differentiate them from most pop and electro acts and they seem to be able to pull off most of these nuances in such a monstrously massive venue! "In Chains" is one of these songs and it did come right across brilliantly this evening; something that was missing this past August. By the third song, I was ready for a few hits and hits out the ass they have! Fourth song was a rocking version of "Walking In My Shoes" and it seemed to take off skyward from there. "It's No Good" followed and was one of the highlights for the night. Just a building beat and intensity made this huge place a small, packed disco for five minutes! The hits just keep flying by at high speed; "Precious", "World In My Eyes", a killer version of "I Feel You", "Policy Of Truth" and they end the set with "Never Let Me Down Again". Just a great and fun set from a band that does have the goods still and can deliver in convincing fashion. We lose David some how, but I find him and then promptly lose both David and Terrie Jean. So I jump in a black cab and go home with the O2 still buzzing in my head and body. Well done for night one of the vacation.

It was cold the whole time there; really cold for the UK. It snowed an inch in London and everything shuts down; truly unbelievable. One of THE major economic hubs of the entire world and they freak out at an inch of snow and ice. WTF! I think Heathrow Airport has one snow plow and it was parked in another part of the country. No salt, just sand or "grit" as they call it. Come on guys, come out from underneath the bed and buy some snow plows and salt and it will all be better; I swear! I drove to a ATM during one of the inch plus blizzards, the whole trip was 2.5 miles and it took us two hours and ten minutes from door to door. it was insane and a bit funny; just never get accumulation in the south of the UK. This down turn in weather was met with more beers and partying which seemed like the logical thing to do. Pubs were visited, groceries were bought, snacks were made, Monte came and went with deliveries and we ended up on Monday afternoon getting ready for Johnny Rotten and Public Image Limited'slivereturn to the stage at the world famous Brixton Academy. Woo F*ckin' Hoo.

Now it's Monday the 21st and we are getting psyched to see Johnny and his band at the Academy in Brixton. Nice and famous place, but they seem to over sell it when they have good shows; more on this later. It had been drizzling all day and it seemed to be threatening to freeze again over night, so the whole country was in a state as the trains were frozen and down for most of the weekend. "STAY OFF THE ROADS", was the call to arms on the evening news. Shots of 30 mile long queues in the north of Britain and cars sliding all over the place was the montage that was featured at 6pm on all the news outlets. "SALT I TELL YOU", is what I am saying to the TV, "BLOODY SALT" (so they would understand better)!! With all this intelligence streaming in about the big freeze coming to grip jolly ole England, we decide to drive to Brixton! Cooper has volunteered to make the drive as we don't need a cab then; more beer money! We head off to the venue not really knowing if there is a support act or not. Not on the tickets or any adverts I had seen. Thinking it could be someone really cool or new and buzzing. It wasn't any of the above! Johnny was obviously saving money by NOT having a support act, but just a DJ playing dub. C'mon now, couldn't you find some awesome London based act to play 30 minutes? I am pretty sure the Academy does not have any heat, it was cold as balls in the bar and holding a pint seemed both comforting yet absurd. I would say that there are two distinct PIL's; one that was the band that put out it;s initial release, Metal Box and Flowers Of Romance and the one who was on MTV singing mildly annoying pop songs, I was banking on the good one showing up and doing all the hits of my college years! Well it was what I had been hoping for, PIL played almost everything I had wanted to hear in their marathon set. It was Grateful Dead like in it was over two and a half hours. We bailed after almost two full hours of the band. They opened with their theme and it was rockin' to say the least. Up next was one of my all time favs off of Metal Box; "Careering". Brilliant and Johnny still has that weird presence that only he seems to be able to carry off. "Poptones" and the intensely depressingly awesome "Albatross" were thrown down and accepted nicely with the sold out Academy. "Death Disco" and "Flowers Of Romance" were two others that really stood out and hit home with the London crowd. My feet were freezing at the end as well as the hand that had a pint in it for most of the set. I think "Memories" was the last we heard as I walked on what felt like stumps to the lobby. Found the car pretty quickly and went home for some tasty food by Coop's and some great UK TV. Not too shabby for a cold as hell Monday night in London.