OH BLIMEY, IT’S CHRISTMAS
– LMRCA RAILWAY CLUB, ALTRINCHAM –
I’m a firm believer that music should cover all aspects of life, it should be able to make you angry, happy, sad, serious, moody and also it should be able to make you laugh. Many people take their music way too seriously for my liking and become the purveyors of snobbery. I am proud of the bad records in my collection, especially the ones that make people cringe when I put them on at volume. If indeed you are one of these people that are wound up by other folks differing musical tastes to your own, maybe you would be better off picking up a copy of the NME rather than reading this review.
Tonight the tables and chairs in the function room of the LMRCA, have been set out in a way that makes it feel like you are back in school, which for me was always a place for fun, rather than learning. But tonight I am sat at the front, which never happened in my school days.
There are cheers and clapping as the Oh Blimey Big Band emerge from the back room and take up their positions. The latest incarnation of the OBBB include Dave on bass, Roachy on guitar and Jamie on drums, all of which have earned their stripes and honed their crafts over many years.
Previous line-ups for this band have included members of Scritti Politti, Black, and also Marc Riley and Mark Radcliffe, both ex-members of The Fall. There was even a time when a certain Mr. Chris Evans made the band jam butties onstage mid-performance. You maybe asking yourself why such prominent names would sign up to do this, quite simply because they are fans of the band leader.
As the band, all wearing shades, fez’s and brown shopkeeper’s overalls start playing, a strange looking Father Christmas enters the room and clumsily clambers on stage much to the pleasure of all in attendance. To the shock and amazement of everyone here, when the Santa hat and coat are removed, we realise that it is actually Timperley’s very own master of disguise, Frank Sidebottom.
All of a sudden Little Frank is now onstage and the they launch into I Gotta Write…. Some Invitations… To Me Paaaarty, which the Beastie Boys did their own version of as homage to big and little Frank.
After Twist and Shout echoes around the room, the band leave the stage to allow the quiz of all quizzes to be gotten underway. I’m sure if those smug know-it-all Eggheads were here, they would struggle with the immensely mastermind-esque questions, especially as I would be repeatedly clobbering them around the head with a sack full of mushy peas while they are racking their brains for the answers.
With half time now upon us, and all the quiz questions asked, the band are now back in place to give us a cover of a Billy Childish song and also one from The Sparks. We can now get our refreshments replenished before the second half gets started.
Once again the band get the intro music going for our second instalment, as our host reappears in his home team’s footy strip. After a few more songs, including ‘This Perfect Day’ by The Saints, the quiz answers are revealed and the no-expense raffle prizes are given out. These include Little Franks body and CDs jam packed full of free downloads. I must admit I was pretty gutted I didn’t win any of these, maybe next time my luck will be in.
For the finale we are given a musical covers extravaganza of ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’ by The Arrows, ‘C’mon Everybody’ and ‘Something Else’ by Eddie Cochran, ‘Sheena is a Punk Rocker’ by The Ramones and for the tonight’s encore, ‘Wild Thing’ by The Troggs.
For me it’s short tram journey home, but I’m chuckling all the way!
‘Accidental Editor’ of Silent Radio from its inception in 2009 through to 2020. None of this was planned; I’ve never been in a band, never been part of the ‘music scene’ and never expected to be the gaffer of a music website with loads of dedicated music loving writers. I bought my first record when I was 8 and haven’t stopped buying since. I love crate digging for bizarre and weird stuff, but equally happy ploughing through press releases looking/listening for something I’ve never heard before.
