"Redcarscometoascreechinghalt"

Jac trying her utmost to join Redcarsgofaster as a band member...Did someone not tell her that it was their last ever gig?



It's so true! Leicester band Redcarsgofaster came skidding to a grinding halt on Saturday night (8th Sept) in a tiny building in the middle of their hometown. The venue was The Charlotte in Oxford St. Redcars were on in the upstairs room and when I say room, I mean quite literally a room...a dark, hot, wood floor room! No stage as such. Just a corner where all their gear was set up and a few speakers. A very intimate affair indeed! Perfect for witnessing a great bunch of guys yanking up the handbrake to their band and playing their last ever gig ever! You see, I was there with my friend Jac who also Love them and when we heard that they were gigging and that it was going to be their last performance...well, we just had to go didn't we. All we had of them in the way of music were six tracks that we managed to find on itunes and nothing else. We heard them once on the radio (which is where we first heard them and instantly fell in Love)...we were sitting in the car one night listening to Xfm and on came "I Am the Storm". The rest as they say is history.

So, we left London behind & drove the 100 miles or so North in a black fast car to the venue. We were a little early (3hrs) and spent most of that time looking for a part of Leicester that wasn't made up of old mens pubs and university campus buildings. We found a place to wait and then before we knew it was almost 8pm. Half the small queue waiting outside to get in were covered in blood and scars of all shapes & sizes! Fake of course...at least I hope it was...I think they must have been seeing the band who were playing downstairs..."Send More Paramedics". They're playing in London on the 14th...I might pop along to see. These guys are also splitting up! What is it with bands splitting up all over the place?

Upon entering the venue, I hadn't realized just how many famous bands had played there! The walls were covered in posters of all the bands that have since 1985...Radiohead, The Killers, Bloc Party, The Buzzcocks, Oasis, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Manic Street Preachers, Suede, Echobelly (MMmmm!), Pulp, Kyuss (cool!), Muse, Coldplay, Coutney Pine, Blur Joe Strummer (of The Clash fame), Razorlight, The Libertines and many more. I bought a t-shirt and Jac bough a red wine and upstairs we went. We had got talking to a guy who was there to see Redcars and he really knew his music and was there photographing the band too. We found him at the top of the stairs talking to Redcars frontman James and spoke to them a bit before we went in. He couldn't believe we came all the way up from London to see them! I asked him if he had any cd's of their homemade album...I'd been kind of communicating with the band the week before by e-mail and they said they would be selling them at the gig. They even remembered me from the e-mails and went and got our cd's before they went on...in fact, even before the first two bands ("Tired Irie" & "Rotary Ten") went on. They were very good too...Jac was in her element and was having a great time. Seeing live bands really seems to be her thing and makes her feel happy! I too Love the whole live band scene. And since the smoking ban on the 1st July you can actually breath in there now!

As I said, Jac was absolutely Loving it...and then on came Redcars! She had already fallen in Love with their music over the last year and now she was falling in Love with James the bands singer. We met him briefly just before the gig and he was just such a nice bloke! He looked very young and we had both imagined him to be a lot older looking. Great looking with a wonderful voice...where did it all go wrong? We had to keep reminding ourselves that it was their last ever gig and that we would never (no one would ever...) see this band again! Good job then that I videoed it! Check these guys out by having a listen to them on their myspace page; http://www.myspace.com/redcarsgofaster click on track "Neurath's Figure"...this is a favorite at the moment. Tell me what you think and if you think they're mad for calling it a day with such a great sound under their belts?

So, the band came on, did their stuff, played more tracks than they have ever played before in a single gig, laughed and joked between themselves and us and even stripped down to their waists just because they had always wanted to during previous gigs and didn't have the bottle. The gig was brilliant, especially the last track, which I'd never heard before, where they just invited the audience up with them...Jac got right up there and had a ball being James' right hand woman for five minutes. Guitars and cymbals were flying around all over the place whilst James stood up by the window over looking the street outside and scribbled something like "Redcarsgofaster...R.I.P" into the steamed up windows as Phil drummed his nuts off along with Andy's deep bass. Then guitarist Matt lifted his guitar right over his head and went to smash it down onto the drum kit until fellow guitarist David jumped in and stopped him. It was sheer madness for a few minutes...a few minutes I'd Love to relive at least once a week for the rest of my life it was that cool!

Thanks guys for such a memorable gig!

REDCARSGOFASTER ARE FUCKING DEAD...R.I.P.

In other news...My mountain bike marathon up in Ruthin, North Wales is fast approaching. Sunday 16th to be precise. The weather looks set to be pretty bad so I may not do the 100k route...but we'll see. My bike is all ready...I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be and I am looking forward to it come rain or shine. What more could you ask for...a weekend camping in a beautiful part of the world with your mountain bike and you best mate? The only thing missing will be my kayak! I'll tell you all about it when it's all over.




Jason








(C) JPT 2007.........2823.01 miles.