GLADSTONE: The Day of the Dog and Undead Dudley.

The Day of the Dog and Undead Dudley.

Sherlock's Dog reports on a busy weekend..........

On 13th April off I went as fast as my paws would carry me to Matlock Bath and what I thought was a Derbyshire version of Crufts, instead I was greeted by my old mates BB Blackdog and what a superb day it was! This was the fund raising event to help BB Blackdog replace their equipment after it was stolen last December, the event was organised by Cas Sharpe and what a superb job she made of it. All the action took place at The Fishpond and at 2pm Whiskey Bob Shaker kicked things off, Whiskey Bob is a very talented musician, he is a one man band using loops to to create an amazing sound, check him out you won't be disappointed. Next was Punk band Gripper and the Gurnards, featuring BB Blackdogs ex-bassist John Ferguson on drums, it was quite a sing-a-long to the old classics (aahhh those were the days!), local rock duo The King Bains entertained us next with some outstanding guitar work and they were closely followed by Heavy Metalers 3 Second Fuse who played a mixture of original and cover songs, for a while they were accompanied by Mike Bower of BB Blackdog on bass.

Refreshment time saw us legging it down the road for a pie and a pint and we were soon back for the steamier second instalment which kicked off with Crimson Clocks, the Crimsons gave an excellent set, it's always good to see Linzi's pussycat being stroked so lovingly, to continue in true Steampunk fashion the wonderful Metropolis hit the stage, they are just dazzling these days, a superb band.

"Supergroup"

It was now time for the auction, many traders had donated their wares for this day and the audience did not disappoint, they were biding like demons and many funds were raised by their generosity, now it was time for the Supergroup Birthrites Jonny Zygen, Mark Thinsliced and Gladstone's Dave Evil were joined by BB Blackdog's Mike Bower in a thundering rendition of "Paranoid", when this was finished the BB Boys were grabbed, forced into seats and when the supergroup were joined by Dave Sharpe on vocals they were well and truly "gimped" much to the delight of the audience.

BB Gimped!!

The night carried on in style with Birthrite blasting onto the stage and in fine form with Erazamus dancing with the crowd, next were my pet humans Gladstone entering with the usual ethereal bells and smugglers song before launching into Night Creatures, Bluey, Ballad of William Winter, Twisted Lip, Newgate, Dr Dexter's Dream, Hall of the Mountain King, Curse of Tutankhamun, Madness of Tilly Matthews and ending on Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls especially for Giles and Jaqui ('cos they like it!) at which time old Spook decided to jump off the stage and headbang....with no hair!!

BB Blackdog

Birthrite

Finally the band for whom the day was all about, BB Blackdog began their set, it had been quite an emotional day for them and when they found out how much had been raised they were amazed and quite overwhelmed, it had been a great day and well done Cas not only for organising the event but also for being brave enough to invite Birthrites Mark, all of Metropolis and all of Gladstone back to her house!! Dave cooked an amazing Chilli con carne and the very generous Giles Warhurst donated a massive chocolate cake (made by the Tattooed Cake Company) that he had won at the auction (I hope Jaqui is speaking to him for this selfless act), it tasted wonderful!!

Gladstone

Next day it was back to Matlock Bath and The Fishpond to clear all the equipment away and head off to the China Rose for a slap up meal with loads of friends, what an amazing bunch you all are, soon it was time to say goodbye and go convoy fashion (Metropolis in front, God help us all!) to Rock Zombie in Dudley.

We arrived just after 6 and loaded in, Rock Zombie is a new venue and it has a great atmosphere, a must visit if you're in the area (and you like you're music fast 'n' noisy that is), Gladstone were first on and they gave a cracking set, as the time given was the same as the night before (45 mins) the set remained the same, the crowd were a bit different to the usual Steampunk events, in this venue there were Bikers, Metal Heads, Punks, Goths, a real cross section of "alternative" cultures and it was fantastic, after Gladstone came

Metropolis who also gave a great energetic set and went down very well as did the headliners Birthrite playing on their home ground they gave their all. This was the first Steampunk event in Rock Zombie and by the sound of the feedback I doubt it'll be the last, it was a superb night but all too soon it was time for us all to go our separate ways into the night.........