I asked recently for fans’ thoughts on the Rebirth of The Darkness, so it’s only fair to do some work myself!
So… well. Oh LORD… we are so close to the Relaunch. So fucking close. Every time I think of it, it gives me a little shiver. I have a bounce in my step, a wide grin. My colleagues are already sick to death of hearing about it – either that or I’m getting patted on the head affectionately (well I hope so). My husband has had fair warning and is still smiling. Cats are a bit puzzled, but they sense something big is afoot.
Does it seem like a dream? Well, kinda. At the moment it’s all anticipation and preparation and planning of all kinds – much like the band themselves, I guess. Work isn’t dreaming. Websites aren’t castles in the sky. The dream moment when I have to pinch myself will be at the first gig I can get to, standing there in the moments before they come on stage, just before the intro music. Oh, please, RockGod, let it be ‘Arrival’! Then, it will be time for a ‘quiet’ moment of ‘is this REAL? Say it is, say it is… ‘ and I KNOW I will have a lump in my throat. Every nerve will be on alert. I’ll have been nervous on the way, praying for everything to go right. If it’s the actual first gig, it’ll be a such a special night. Those nights for SG and HL were very special as well, but this? This will be… something more than that. Double that, and double again. I’ll be an emotional wreck, and not ashamed.
We’ve all come a long way since October 2006, and so much has happened. Change and settling and rebuilding. That’s got to be a good place to start from.
Everything in this household is ready to go again. For the love of the rock they brought, I’m ready to go. I thought a lot about whether I could work for TD in the way I’ve done before, supporting SG and HL, giving everything I had time to give. I can’t physically do another Temple! – there are other sites that can and will carry on in that vein. I can do this, though. I lay OI at the shrine of Lowestoft Rock, worship, hope, and wait patiently for miracles to happen (overblown metaphors a speciality, k?).
I can’t write this without some thank you’s for the rock we’ve had in the interval:
Robin Goodridge – for drumming so spendidly.
Stuart Cable (RIP) – for stepping in to help.
Pete Rinaldi – for guitar, but mainly for being such a lovely guy.
Sam Stokes – for rocking hard and also being lovely.
Darby Todd – for being as cool as fuck, dude.
Johnny Haskett – for hugs, cake and splendidness.
Nick and Katy Brine – for just being ACE.
Toby Macfarlaine – for wit, elegance and charm.
Someone who deserves so many good things said about them – Richie Edwards. You fronted SG so damn well, and are one of the nicest people anyone would ever wish to meet. We ALL salute you. I can only wish there had been one last time to ‘see you down the front.’ Maybe one day, Richie. xxx
Oh dear. Sniffle. See? Emotional already. I am such a GIRL.
It’s time.
Permission to take off?
Granted.
Jo
As usual, said with style and aplomb. Good luck with the relaunch and revitalisation of OI. I know you’ll do great. You rock Bloodsucker!! xxx
Fantastic, I agree with it all (No that’s not why it’s fantastic).
I was having similar thoughts today as I’m sure a lot of us have been. Listened to my bootleg of the XFM gig twice in succession and then had a run through of another mix a little later. Imagined where and when the return might be, what it will entail – new stuff? PTL era? any of the OWT era some of which is so underated.
I’ll respect whatever decisions get made, but with Frankie back somehow only Arrival followed by Bareback feels right. That calling card was and remains the strongest opening I’ve ever experience at any rock show.
I’ve been thinking a lot about legacy too. What upset me when it ended, the way it ended, was that those who always dismissed and belittled them, those who saw it all as some novelty cabaret were able to continue that myth, to retcon history. Our defense, our passion, the real band that we followed and loved and promoted as best we could, without that live environment we had no fire.
Listening to bootlegs is a clear and present reminder that whilst this band had a sense of humour and eccentricity that some could not stomach or see beyond, it was only a part of their attack. This band made it not because of a tache or a catsuit. It made it because Bareback is one of the most joyous rock instrumentals ever written, because Growing on Me has one of the most uplifting guitar solos of all-time, because Love is Only A Feeling is the greatest bower ballads of the last 20 years and beyond everything else because in Love on the Rocks that novelty band of three blokes from Lowestoft and a Scotsman in a bandanna crafted an anthem with ten times more balls than anything any other contemporary rock act this century can hold a candle too.
We have Permission to Land.
GENTLEMAN, SO DO YOU.