VAIN with
New Generation Superstars + Bad Attitude
Rock City, Nottingham
01/12/2009

VAIN Setlist:
Secrets / Love Drug / Push Me Over / Down for the 3rd Time / Icy / Who’s Watching You / Smoke and Shadows / So Free Now / 1000 Degrees / / No Respect / Beat The Bullet / Ready

N.G.S Setlist:
I Won’t Stop / Nothin’ To Lose / Own Sweet Hell / Way Back Home / Bleed / Addictive / Dopefriend / Come Over / Save Me / Do It ‘Cause I Can / Beat ‘Em Down / Rock ‘n’ Roll Overload

Bad Attitude just need a few more miles on the clock, we catch the end of their set (after stopping off at the wonderful Tap and Tumbler over the Road) and things are almost right, songs are OK , image passable, but the crowd is small pretty inappreciative and they handle it well. It will be interesting to see them in a year or so.

NGS is another matter entirely, the local band has a few friends in and the crowd fills up fast though we are only in the basement and I guess that tonight we only reach 120 people maybe, which in my mind is a crime. The weather out there may be cold but 120 people come to see 4/5 of the classic line-up of Vain perform their greatest album is enough to make a grown man cry (or at least have a few more beers). Digg would be angry as he’d been asking me for months to come down and see this gig for him and grab a T-Shirt!

Anyhow back to NGS. These guys are great and being as I said their local venue they go down a storm. Last time Vain played the UK these guys were also in support so it’s like old friends reunited. The great thing about NGS is that they have some killer songs and a cool image and they seem to be having fun. They may not have the greatest singer in the world in AJ but he’s certainly got the stage presence. They have come a long way in a few years and could do well (though tonight’s poor turn out makes me kind of wonder what that would mean in England in 2009).

Anyone interested should check out their website www.newgenrocks.com and some of the songs that go down particularly well tonight are: ‘Come Over’ ‘Set You Free’ ‘Beat ‘Em Down’ and ‘Rock and Roll Overload’ off the new CD. If you love a bit of sleaze and newer US bands like Dirty Penny then these guys are well, just a bit better.

The Band that everyone has come to see though is VAIN, I can’t remember the number of times Digg has told me about the time he saw Vain support Skid Row in Sheffield back in the olden days and as he’s not hear I don’t have to listen to that again. They rarely play these days with Davy into production and the thing that is particularly special about this tour is that 4 of the 5 originals are on stage (I understand that they make it 5 out of 5 on some dates).

The worst aspect of this is surely the poor turnout which must be a nightmare for promoters but to be honest to me it’s pretty cool, the lack of sweaty punters means I get to have a few beers, the bar is easily accessible and I even have room for a bit of jumping about!

This year is the 20th anniversary of the release of ‘No Respect’ - one of the best sleaze albums ever released and judging by tonight’s performance it’s a bloody shame that these guys never made it big and actually it’s a bit of a wonder that they don’t play more as they sound amazing. What I didn’t expect was how talkative Davy would be with his between song banter which is both amusing and entertaining. He still may not be able to afford a pair of shoes and his face may have filled out a little (shit in 20 years he’s done better than I have, except for the shoes that is!) but the voice is still incredibly strong.
What we get tonight is about 80 minutes of wonderful music, that leaves you feeling ‘if only’ Davy is all over the stage and seems to be having a great time and the songs are pretty much perfect, with hardly a note out of place!

They kick off with ‘Secrets’ (Thanks to Rosie for both setlists by the way, I’m far too forgetful for that stuff!) and it’s only really towards the end when they play ‘So Free Now’ a later song that I can take my eyes off the show to get to the bar.

‘Who’s Watching You’ and the amazing ‘Beat the Bullet’ expectedly go down best of all tonight, and yes they do still close with ‘Ready’. The only sad thing about tonight is that it’s being touted as a Farewell Tour. Well I for one hope that’s just publicity talk or that it’s a farewell tour in the way that John Farnham or Kiss have Farewell tours.

Amazing night.

By Les (Digg you owe me a beer)