Alan Dearling enjoyed a great night in London’s 100 Club
I had been really looking forward to this gig in the iconic Oxford Street venue. Lots of old festival and Traveller friends plus musical maestros, Chris Bowsher (Radical Dance Faction), Martin Glover (Youth/Killing Joke and more) and Al Damidge (Damidge) and their talented mates. And so it turned out – good sound quality – some great performances – friendly, quirky company – professional lighting, which makes a heck of a difference to the overall rock ‘n’ roll experience.
Youth has recently produced the new Youth/RDF album, ‘Welcome to the Edge’. Edgy, dubby, poetry in-extreme-motion courtesy of Chris Bowsher.
“Cockroach Town, you’re never alone.”
As Youth proclaimed from the stage when he joined the RDF to play keys, “Chris is one of the really great frontmen”. And, in a lovely tongue-in cheek moment, Chris introduced Youth as, “One of the world’s three greatest music producers, but I don’t know the other two!”
‘Cockroach Town’ from the album, ‘Welcome to the Edge’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5RZha86_qg
This was an evening for the older New Travellers, the ‘Surplus people’, to come and celebrate their culture together. Almost a musical private party night…in a very special venue: the legendary 100 Club.
Radical Dance Faction developed out of Military Surplus. They have experienced an ever evolving line-up of musical members, with Chris at the helm from their early days in the late 1980s. Back then they found themselves being at the forefront of the protests against what became the Criminal Justice Act in 1994. That Act of parliament literally criminalised the lives of many UK Travellers. If Stonehenge free festi and the Battle of the Beanfield in 1985 have become emblematic of the travelling and festi lifestyles and alternative cultures, RDF epitomise protest parties, squatting, sassy ‘outsiders’, living on the outer edges of less radical society. Nowadays, the opportunities for celebrating these fragile freedoms only exist at the smaller festies – events like Feral, Horse-drawn, Surplus, EnDorset, Kozfest and Bearded Theory. Often the Convoy Cabaret offer stages and performance areas. Lots of benefit gigs too…usually in support of the oppressed…
The RDF/Youth performance blended together old and new material whilst showcasing the Youth produced tracks from ‘Welcome to the Edge’ with ‘Daydream Dystopia’ (2018).
Here’s a quirky glimpse into Chris Bowsher’s NFA (No Fixed Abode Traveller band) life or lives!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-k9xGQPP4M
And more music from Chris and RDF: ‘Go to War’ at Rebellion 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWUtLdcVKOg
Damidge, fronted by the ever-effervescent, Al Damidge, was absolutely perfect as ‘support’ for RDF and Youth. Punk as fuck…and then some. Here’s an old video of them, ‘Ritten in Rehab’ from 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwSmnXPsHwE
From Al’s Facebook site, I believe this is the current Damidge line-up: Al Damidge, Vocals; Alex Pym, Guitar; John Clifford, Drums, and Moyni on Bass. Al hasn’t been too well of late, but seemed full of puckish energy and vibes, despite having to perch on a bar stool during the gig.
The new Damidge single was still being pressed, so wasn’t available at the 100 Club gig. I believe it will be tracks recorded by Pat Collier at Perry Vale Studios: ‘Inspired by you’/’Motorway Hussy’/’So Easy’. But, hey, I could be wrong. Al and the lads gave the tracks plenty of musical welly from the 100 Club stage. Bandcamp: https://damidge.bandcamp.com/
The 100 Club keep to a very tight time schedule and close sharp at 11pm, so, Kiranpal Singh and Titus Maz provided early arrivals into the Club with a tasty mix of their fusions of mellow and soaring guitar solos, melded with Indian almost-traditional sounds. World music created from an entirely different palette of colours, hues and ethnicities.
Video from the 100 Club:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIder7TVIZo
Altogether, a magical night, with magical people in a magical space!
