ITALIAN SHOWS HAVE BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER THE ALBUM RELEASE AS WE HAVE TO DO PROMO

VERY SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE BUT WE WILL BE THERE AT SOME POINT.               

MORE SHOWS TO BE ADDED SOON & USA TOUR DATES COMING SOON!

GIRLSCHOOL @ THE ROCK AND ROLLKABARET, SOHO REVUE BAR 20/08/07

When it comes to nights out, perhaps the best kept secret in the West End of London on a Monday evening is the Rock and Rollkabaret held every week at the plush Soho Revue Bar. Every week new talent scours the boards once best known to London's strippers, in an relaxing, well located venue with compare Cherry assuring that no heckle goes unscathed.

Tonight's event is something special. Kelly Johnson of Girlschool died of cancer recently, and tonight's show is to be a tribute, with the girls of Motorhead's acquaintance guaranteed for an appearance later on. Others have also gathered to pay their respects. Taking the lead are Purple Melon. Their youthful looks and Seventies glam flavoured garb gives no hint to their true depth. Think of a Hendrix inspired blues onslaught with the Chilli Peppers' craft for a funky tune. The vocals are of a high range, and the musicianship is first class, but they feel somewhat static on stage, and the distortion coming from their equipment does no credit to their talent or abilities. They get braver and more into their performance as they proceed, but with more confidence and better gear (and despite its Hendrix connotations, a catchier name) we could have something hot on our hands here.

The next act appears to have been put together for the tribute to Kelly and have been christened the Furry Freak Sisters (take that Fat Freddy!). It's all acoustic, but touching stuff, and the vocalist onstage betrays her small stature with a powerful voice.

Our next turn comes in the form of a single, silver spandex clad vixen by the name of Anna Pheobe, who cavorts about the stage with a violinin hand to a pre-recorded accompaniment. For those of us who've witnessed the performances of 'goff' faves the Cruxshadows all too recently, the sight of female eye candy with a fiddle strumming full tilt to a backing track may seem very familiar (But where's the equivalent of Rogue, Cruxshadows' pineapple headed vocalist?). However, unlike said other band, there's no feeling of the violin being restricted, and it feels that the lead instrument is fully breathing against the pre-recorded elements that surround it. There's definite talent on display here, but is it rock and roll? Believe it or not, the answer is yes.

Next, Rock and Rollkabaret main man and ringmaster Cherry takes to the stage to sing his own tribute. What is there to say? You thought 'Hedwig and the Angry Itch' were a band from a fictitious movie? Think again - here's the nearest thing the real world has to offer to the Angry Itch! Cherry's backing band the Bad Boys are overtaken by 'Billy the Kid' (their regular singer) for some crunchy new wave inspired mayhem with a rockabilly bent. Special mention to the drunken 'Eddie Hitler' clone pogoing in the audience, who was a show unto himself.

Anna Phoebe and the guitarist from Billy the Kid's Bad Boys join Cherry for a short lament for the departed Ms Johnson (where Anna gets her deserved live backing!), before the Rock and Roll Gypsies arrive on stage. They have that feeling of structured chaos that the Clash always wielded so well- Of being musicians who are so obviously skilled, that they're not frightened of giving their sound an extra rawness.

It's an age before Girlschool finally arrive on stage - To absolute chaos. They've barely finished their first song before they have to repair the drum kit and completely re-tune (with one tuner shared by the whole band!) and then have to repeat the whole experience after their next song. It should be cringe worthy and embarrassing, but for some reason, its actually entertaining, probably because they're laughing along with the crowd and genuinely look like their enjoying themselves. The laid back atmosphere of the venue somehow helps with this, I can't imagine feeling the same if I was watching similar carnage happening at an Underworld gig! In the end, they manage Seven songs in total, and once they hit their stride they rock like muthas (which could possibly be because they must all have kids by now!), although its a rare occurrence for a performance to be more enjoyable for what went wrong rather that what went right! Never mind, I'm sure those present, (and those no longer sadly with us) will have left with a smile on their face, and at the end of the day, that's really what rock and roll is all about.





Dave Gill

GIRLSCHOOL

Camden Underworld

10 May 2007

View – stage left.

Four metal bands all trying their hardest, only one worth turning out to see.

Scavenger's Daughter opened proceedings in extreme metal fashion; the odd Maiden or Priest riff, lots of screaming and growling and widdly solos. Obviously trying hard, but that turned out to be the problem.  Trying too hard. The extremeness of the vocals, the posturing, all forced and over stated, while the music was just ordinary.

Pretty much the same could be said of Dead Eye, a rough 4-piece that had me scurrying for the bar.

Dirty Rig were worth a mention, featuring Warrior Soul's singer Kory. The music is a throwback with an added touch of alcohol and sleazy rock'n'roll. OK, a LOT of alcohol, the band seemed unable to coherently finish the first few songs.

The highlight of the evening, the very reason for my being there, was Girlschool. Quite aside from falling in love with the absolutely stunning guitarist Jackie Chambers before the show, the band were as usual an absolute delight. Girlschool are completely incapable of disappointing. The talent is channelled intelligently, and they don't appear to work too hard on stage, because everything they do is done with a smile. They did what they do best, rocking and rolling and clearly enjoying themselves and that rubs off on the crowd. The inter track banter natural and fun too.

And if you're new to the band, it's not until you see them live that you realise just how many standards and anthems they have.

The set opened with "C'Mon Let's Go", with (the equally gorgeous) guitarist Kim McAuliffe on vocals and Denise Dufort's drums pounding away. Lead guitarist Chambers produced some damn fine solos too.

Throughout the set Kim and bassist Enid Williams shared lead vocals, and classics included "Hit & Run", "Screaming Blue Murder" and the ever favourite "Screaming Blue Murder". These mixed well with more recent songs from Not That Innocent and Believe.

For a former NWoBHM band Girlschool have survived well, and in a male dominated genre they must be one of the most successful all female rock bands around.

In a set dedicated to former guitarist Kelly Johnson, the band closed with "Take It All Away" and "London", a great show.

Joe Geesin

Back in 1975, Enid Williams (Bass, Vocals) and Kim McAuliffe (Rhythm Guitar, Vocals), both from South London, formed an all girl rock covers band called ´Painted Lady´. After playing the local pub scene and numerous line-up changes (Deirdre Cartright, Kathy Valentine, later of the GoGos), Kelly Johnson and Denise Dufort came on board and in April 78 they changed their name to ´Girlschool´ and hit the road touring venues around France, Ireland and the U.K.

In December 78 they released their first single ´Take it all away´ on the independent ´City Records´ label which led to interest from Motorhead´s management and a support slot on the Overkill tour in the spring of 79. After signing with Lemmy´s record company Bronze later that year, the band released their first album ´Demolition´ alongside the singles ´Emergency´ and ´Race with the Devil´ in the spring of 1980. Tours around Europe and a support with ´Uriah Heep´ followed and in 1981 they teamed up with Motorhead again as ´Headgirl´ on the classic single ´Please Don't Touch´ (St. Valentines Massacre) which went silver and reached no.5 in the U.K. The album ´Hit and Run´ was released in March, going gold in Canada and a sellout tour of the U.K, gigs with Black Sabbath and Rush and a Friday night headline slot at Reading Festival followed.

After playing Japan in 1982, Enid left and was replaced by Gil Weston of The Killjoys and Girlschool recorded their third album ´Screaming Blue Murder´, hitting the road in the U.S. to play stadiums alongside Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, The Scorpions and Blue Oyster Cult. In 1983 the band went back into the studio with Noddy Holder and Jim Lee of legendary band Slade for their fourth album ´Play Dirty´, charting in the U.S.

After Kelly left to live in L.A. she was replaced by Cris Bonacci on lead guitar and singer Jackie Bodimead on lead vocals for the 1985 album ´Running Wild´, released on Mercury records alongside a live video from the Camden Palace, London. In 1986 Girlschool signed to GWR records and reunited with original producer Vic Maile for ´Nightmare at Maple Cross´, minus Bodimead and now back as a four piece with Kim on vocals.

The following year Gil called it quits and Tracey Lamb (Rock Goddess) took over on bass for their next album ´Take a Bite´. Kim, Cris, Denise and Enid teamed up with punk singer Toyah Wilcox under the name ´She Devils´ for the Women in Music festival in December 90 and summer 91 saw Lydie Gallais replacing Denise on drums under the new name ´Strange Girls´ for a three track demo, U.K. dates and festivals in Germany as support to the Beach Boys. ´92 saw the band releasing the album ´Girlschool´ with Jackie Carrera on bass and in ´93 the return of Kelly and Tracey resulted in extensive touring and in March ´95 the CD ´Girlschool Live´.

In 2000, original bassist/vocalist Enid and lead guitarist Jackie Chambers joined and in ´02 they released the ´21st Anniversary – Not that Innocent´ album, recorded three years earlier with the previous line-up, now with the addition of two new tracks, ´Coming your Way´ and ´Innocent´. Since releasing their latest album ´Believe´, Girlschool have been playing headline gigs, festivals and with Alice Cooper, Twisted Sister and support to Motorhead on tour in the U.K. 2008 sees the release of new material and a DVD for the 30th anniversary of the original and longest running female rock band in the world!

Cheers you lot!

Discography

ALBUMS 12"