Buckcherry / Backyard Babies
20 March 2007
Mean Fiddler, London
A delayed photopass meant missing hard rockers Damone. Still peeling the back of said pass, Johan charged past me as the flashing lights, skull & crossbones backdrop and repeated mantra of "People Like", heralded the arrival of the Backyard Babies.
The bubblegum punk rock of People Like People Like People Like Us kicked things off with guitarist Dregen saluting the crowd at its conclusion. Following The Clash, Nicke Borg told us he can be like Bill Hicks and entertain us between songs, or shut the f**k up and play as many songs as possible, with the latter winning favour with the crowd.
It was Dregen`s turn to take the mic for Star War, though half way through he suddenly broke away from the mic to cough his lungs up, with Borg picking up the vocal. Hair tied back, the heavily bearded Borg retains the mic for Made Me A Madman, with the crowd joining in with the Wow! Yeah!.
Borg explains the band have just returned from dates in Greece, where the crowds are wild. It must have been a sharp contrast to this crowd, who remain static and most refuse to give ground to those trying to squeeze to the front to bop along.
Dregen manages to sing through the whole of The Mess Age, but looses his shirt, much to the ladies delight. In contrast to his punk and Borg`s rough looks, bassist Johan Blomquist looks fresh faced with his long blonde locks. Keeping to his side of the stage he is however animated, clearly enjoying the set.
Minus Celsius stands tall in the Backyard Babies back catalogue and raises the temperature in the Mean Fiddler with a chorus that you just have to sing along too. Look At You carries a hook which recalls teen flick soundtrack Footloose. At its conclusion, Borg tells us the Babies don`t come over to the UK as often as they used too and promises us they`ll be back if we oblige with a chant of "People Like Us". The crowd did their part, so you should expect to see the Backyard Babies back here soon, if they keep up their side of the bargain.
Backyard Babies set list:
People Like People Like People Like Us / The Clash / Brand New Hate / Heroes & Heroines / Star War / Made Me A Madman / The Mess Age (How Could I Be So Wrong) / Minus Celsius / Look At You / Fill Up This Bad Machine / Dysfunctional Professional
The sold out venue indicates that the rollercoaster ride that is Buckcherry is on the up once again. Having raced out of the traps strongly at the end of the 90s with an excellent debut which Lit Up with an anthemic song of the same name, things petered out following the sophomore Timebomb.
However, the duo of Josh Todd and Keith Nelson reunited and returned with a new band and fantastic album, 15, last year. Once again as Lit Up did with the debut, Crazy Bitch has grabbed rockers attention and propelled the band to renewed success.
Its unlikely Todd deals in half measures and his question "Are we f**king doing this shit?" before opener So Far, doubled as a statement of intent. One song in, he was already dispensing with his shirt, to reveal the canvas his skin has become for extensive tattooing. To Todd`s left, Stevie D raised his guitar to the crowd as the band wrap up a riotous Broken Glass.
There`s absolutely nothing subtle about Porno Star, as Todd careered around the stage like the bastard son of Steven Tyler, taking things up a notch from what Tyler refers to as his Big Ten Inch. Buckcherry formed around their love of AC/DC, so its homage rather than plagiarism that Keith Nelson`s riffing during Out Of Line recalls the Young brothers.
Sorry offers the first breather of the night, as the band run through the ballad bathed in red light. This just allows us to catch our breath before Todd tells us he wants to ask us one question, as the band jam out a funky riff. "Why am I here, man?" asks Todd then answers himself, "Why? I`m here to procreate, and in order to procreate you have to f**k. Who do you wanna f**k?"
Well it`s the Crazy Bitch of course, who whips up the crowd. The song seems to polarise women`s opinion between believing it to be misogynistic and plain loving it. The latter wins through tonight as a sprawled out version including a jam of Fire forms the centrepiece of Buckcherry`s set.
Fortunately, whilst they possess a couple of notorious songs, Buckcherry also have a cannon full of catchy anthems and consequently the set does not dip with Next To You and Ridin`. Everything starts as a ballad but rises to a shout yourself hoarse chorus with plenty of bouncing along.
Into the home straight and it`s Lit Up, written about Todd`s cocaine habit at the age of 16, that closes the main set in rousing fashion, with Xavier Muriel hitting the drums in a take no prisoners Tommy Lee style.
Returning for one solitary encore, Crushed is how the crowd feel when the lights come up following the song. As the song captures, "Its the show, and the love on the faces of everyone, that makes all this connecting the right thing".
Buckcherry set list:
So Far / Broken Glass / Porno Star / Whiskey In The Morning / Out Of Line / Sorry / Crazy Bitch / Next To You / Ridin` / Onset / Everything / Check Your Head / Slamin / Lit Up / Crushed
LINKS:
Buckcherry
Backyard Babies
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