As you might remember, I backed Viv Albertine's PledgeMusic campaign to fund her first solo album and it was released in November 2012. I was more than happy to support Viv and was delighted with the result. Viv offered us the opportunity to support her at a showcase to promote the record and the autobiography to be published later this year and I jumped at the chance. The showcase was last night at the 12Bar Club on Denmark Street (also sometimes called Tin Pan Alley) in London.
Shortly after 7:10pm, someone got on stage in a coat and scarf,
carrying a few bags, someone with shoulder-length brown hair. Off
came the scarf, coat goes on the stage at the back with her bags and
up stands Viv, putting on her guitar before turning round to say
hello to the crowd. She wore a white pleated skirt, orange shirt with
big collars and a tight suede jacket and said she hoped we didn't
mind that she was dressed as a yummy mummy. I didn't mind at all.
After
a long day at work I finally left for the gig and arrived at Denmark Street just before the start time, gave my name at the door, had my hand stamped with the date (it's a long time since that's happened) and the bloke on the door said to go straight on through. So I
did.
My
heart fell slightly when I walked in since the place was dingy and small, but I
went to the bar to order a Guinness to celebrate seeing Viv, my first Guinness of 2013. The bar staff just talked to each other in Polish paying no attention to customers so it
get's a minus mark for service. Then I walked on and found a small
maze of rooms with bare walls and walls covered in ska and TwoTone
posters and found the gig room which is about the same size as my
living room with bare brick walls and a teeny stage.
I stood at the back, roughly in the centre so I'd have a good view.
At
first I thought, 'o dear' but then I travelled back in time to the
late 70s/early 80s and remembered this is exactly the kind of club I
used to go to way back when - small rooms, brick walls - this one just seems to have survived
over the last 30 years! It was perfect for a showcase for Viv and I felt strangely comfortable. The
stage was about 3 feet tall and just big enough for four people. The
room probably holds about 50 people and it was full. It was gloomy
with a few lights on the stage and that was it, with the band setting
up their instruments (keyboard, violin and a bloke sitting on a
wooden box as drums).
Shortly after 7:10pm, someone got on stage in a coat and scarf,
carrying a few bags, someone with shoulder-length brown hair. Off
came the scarf, coat goes on the stage at the back with her bags and
up stands Viv, putting on her guitar before turning round to say
hello to the crowd. She wore a white pleated skirt, orange shirt with
big collars and a tight suede jacket and said she hoped we didn't
mind that she was dressed as a yummy mummy. I didn't mind at all.
The
three-piece band came on and, just as they were about to start the
first song, Viv's mobile phone went off! She said 'It's probably just
Mick...' and crouched down to rummage for her phone and switch it
off.
Viv
and her band played four songs: 'Don't Believe', ' Becalmed (I
Should've Known)' (a song for when you've cocked up big time), 'I
Want More' (which is what Viv thinks about before bedtime) and
'Confessions Of A MILF' (I love the line when the little wife sings
'I chose being an artist over being a wife so now I'm going to lead a very lovely life'). They're all favourites
so I was happy. I sung along and tapped my feet and nodded my head in
time to the beat (man).
There
was a slight moment of annoyance during 'I Want More' when a late arrival decided to push past behind me to get to the other side of the room and the bloke politely said 'sorry'. Co-incidentally, Viv fluffed the words and stopped the song to start it
again and do it properly so I got the full song and could focus on it
and thoroughly enjoy it, joining in to sing, 'No compromise, I want
more!”. The bloke? O yeah, that was Mick Jones. I've never met a Clash before (I know it's not quite meeting, but y'know...).
After
the four songs the three-piece band left the stage and Viv picked up
her MacBook to read from her forthcoming autobiography. She joked
that she'd increased the size of the text (and showed us the screen to prove it)
to avoid having to go to Specsavers. She then read out the chapter
about the White Riot tour with the Clash in 1977 with references to
Mick Jones and how they split up at the end of the tour. It's
remarkably honest and Viv is terribly brave reading it out knowing
that he's in the audience. She also got a lot of laughs as she told
the tale of Norman, the tour bus driver, refusing to drive if the
Slits were on board and having to be bribed, of locking Ari Up in the
toilet so she didn't dance in the aisle of the bus, and the support
bands getting together on the final night of the tour to jam a
version of the Velvet's 'Sister Ray'.
Part of what Viv read aloud was to do with the gig in Newcastle. Viv recalled it as being and looking poor and grey. My memories of Newcastle in the '70s are definitely on the grey side, lacking in colour and life, so I share her views. I found this blog about the gig (that I didn't attend since I wasn't a student but I bought the record) and it shares some of Viv's recollections.
Then it was all over. Viv said goodnight and we did the
clap-clap-clap thing until the background music started playing again
and Viv put her laptop away. People started moving away, space
cleared and that was it. I didn't take any photos since it didn't
seem right.
I
moved to the side of the stage thinking, 'I'm not leaving
without saying hello' and, of course, Viv was chatting to someone she
seemed to know, then someone else came up and someone else for a hug.
I'm standing there. Then I thought, if I don't say something I'll
miss my chance so I said, 'Hello Viv,
loved the show' and she started chatting to me. Asked my name and, after I told her she replied with 'O yes, you're one of
my backers, thank you' – I was quietly delighted to be remembered!
I
said I was pleased she'd played 'I Want More' since it's one of my
favourites and that I agreed with what she'd said about Newcastle on
the White Riot tour. She
told me to pick up my freebies (that I think of as presents) from the
desk at the front and told me to get a poster, a handwritten setlist
and a CD single. I said 'bye' and she said 'bye'.
On the way out I had to squeeze past Glen
Matlock. I think he's stalking me … After meeting him a few times at gigs over the last year or so I've decided he seems to follow me round (the
cheeky fellow, but he obviously knows that I know the best places to
go).
Then
I went up to the front desk to pick up my presents, carefully rolled
up the (numbered) poster to carry home as a trophy and left the club
with a big smile on my face and lots of memories to
cherish as I headed to Tottenham Court Road station. I felt a bit
like a teenager again, seeing a hero and rushing home holding my
trophies carefully. I listened to Viv on my iPod on the way home (a big difference from being a teenager), thinking and reminiscing.
Viv was fab. She sang songs, she did riffing, she did chatting, she did
reading, she did laughing, she did intense honesty and she did
loveliness. She is a hero. She's playing at Nambucca, a club on Holloway Road on
23 February so I've bought tickets to see her. It is my job as a fan. As I've blogged before, it's the job of my heroes to tell me about new records, books and tours and it's my job to get them, attend gigs and tell everyone I can about them. It's a sacred deal, y'know.
