The Milkmen

THE MILKMEN

IMV 13th December 2025 

Sometimes you go to a gig secure in the knowledge that it is going to be a superb night... such a night was last night at the The International Music Venue with the traditional party night with the fabulous The Milk Men - Band

There was a warm glow of anticipation in the room from the opening and as show time got nearer the atmosphere got even warmer and more excited... at the appointed hour the strains of Benny Hill singing "Ernie" filled the room and the large audience all found its way to the front of the stage.. as the band emerged there was a roar of greeting... smiles all around from the band and as the recording came to an end with no preamble we were rocking to "Make Mine a Double" and then on through a set of classic familiar pieces and a number of tracks from a forthcoming album...

Make no mistake... this band is more than a rock'n'roll band.. they are four superb musicians... up front Jamie's vocals are strong and clear, his great voice perfect for the music while Adam's guitar playing is brilliant, fluent and rocking throughout... at the back Mike's drumming is, as always, a crisp and immaculate as his suit and Lloyd stands for the most part calmly delivering some of the best bass playing you are likely to hear... put them together and the whole is even greater than the parts. They are a hard rocking band who know that rock'n'roll is about having fun, and there is plenty of fun in the show... Adam and Jamie bantering away and some wonderfully awful jokes.. and although they take the music very seriously, they all play with a smile and clearly have a ball.. as does the audience!!

Its hard to pick out highlights. the whole 2 hour set is wonderful, but special mention for a simply magnificent performance of the Wilco/Mick Green classic "Going Back Home" which somehow managed to raise the temperature even further and had the audience rocking hard...

The energy and power of the band never flagged, if anything it continued to build and build. Most of the set are original Milkmen songs, but there are other notable covers... late in the set Mike leaves the drum kit to shake tambourine as the band line up together front and centre.. after this intro he returns to the kit and Jamie beckons the audience who burst into the lyrics as one... "I cant help it bout the shape i'm in.... " and we are into Peter Greens "Oh Well"... the lyrics belted out by the audience...somehow having seemed reached a peak they cranked it up higher with "One Man Band" Robert Palmers "Bad Case of Loving You" which again had the audience belting out the chorus... then "Little Miss Attention" followed by the familiar intro of "Pinball Wizard" and the almighty last track "She dont like Rock'n'roll"....

For most of the show the whole audience was dancing and singing as the band rocked and thrilled with their energy and musicianship... but the encore, as we all knew... " was a medley of rock'n'roll gold... starting with Eddie's "Summertime Blues" and segueing in to "Johnny B Goode" with snippets of "Sweet Caroline" and "Rockin' all over the world"... by this time the entire audience was dancing, singing and whooping as the band cranked it up further... and saw Adam playing the glorious Chuck Berry riff with his guitar behind his head and duck-walking simultaneously....

An absolutely breathtaking climax to a truly outstanding 2-hour set of some of the best rock'n'roll you will ever hear... absolutely magnificent set by one of the very best bands on the planet... a band who rock totally and remember that it is about fun, for them and for the audience... cant speak too highly of them

And to crown it... you'll seldom meet a more lovely bunch of people

Keep music live... keep music real.. support your local venues

Ben Ottewell/Wry Dogs/Becky!

BEN OTTEWELL/WRY DOGS/BECKY!

Duffys 11th December 2025

Another great evening at Duffy's Bar last night courtesy Wake up promotions...

Despite the weather a big crowd had gathered by the time things started. Opening was Be Cky who was on top of her game delivering a really great set... i think the best i've heard her!. As always full of life and positivity, and accompanied by her partner (Sam?) on cajon, Be Cky kicked off with a familiar summer song, re-titled to winter, and continued with a set of her own excellent songs... the one exception being a cover of "Santa Claus is Coming"..... "to town" where she gleefully highlighted some lines that could be seen as very dodgy!!

Be Ckys voice is light and clear and fits beautifully with her songs.. always worth seeing, and cracking way to open the evening

Next up were new (to me) duo, WRY DOGS. The band I believe are more about writing and recording rather than live work... they delivered a really good set of original songs... strong vocals and some really excellent songs accompanied by some brilliant guitar work and tambourine, and on some songs, two guitars. Highly enjoyable set, hopefully we will see more of this duo on stage..

Finally... the main attraction, BEN OTTEWELL. as the stage was being cleared and readied the audience were packing in and the atmosphere tremendous.. finally Ben appeared in the room to a mighty cheer, which grew as he hit the stage... Jacky Duffy got up to welcome and introduce him and he kicked into the first song... some fine guitar playing then he stepped forward and sang and wow... what a truly incredible voice!! Full of strength and power, and also very warm and melodic..

Most of the songs were greeted with a cheer on recognition, and most appeared very well known in the audience... with everyone singing along joyfully...

The songs are all excellent, whether from the Gomez catalogue or his owns solo pieces, and all delivered superbly with passion and real quality... His delivery went from high power to a gentle soft tone, where the power was still evident.

As a performer Ben is superb... totally at home on stage playing and singing superbly his personality and charisma shining through at every breath...

One of the greatest voices i've heard... a superb writer and performer delivering a truly magnificent show... absolutely superb

My only disappointment is that I hadn't discovered him and his work much sooner... but this was a memorable performance and I wont be overlooking him in the future

Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venue

Anderson (Crazyhead)/Mystery Action/Quarks

ANDERSON (CRAZYHEAD)/MYSSTERY ACTION/QUARKS

Duffys 7th December 2025

This wasn't a night for the faint hearted at Duffys... but it was a cracker!

First up were QUARKS... I'd seen them a few weeks earlier and really enjoyed them... and tonight it was business as usual with the band... Hard to quantify the style... basically punk/rock with an element of prog towards the end. The band are great musicians... powerhouse drums and pounding bass driving things and a lot of fast intricate yet powerful guitar work... the music was somewhat intense and rocked hard. However, for me, i would have liked more contrast as by the end i felt it getting a bit samey and the long instrumental section at the end maybe a tad self-indulgent... however... overall it was a great start to the evening, and i did enjoy it.

Next up, Mystery Action... a band who seem to be evolving yet maintaining the same glorious swampy voodoo rock profile they have always had... tonight was a bit of a landmark as it was back-up singer Betty Bam’s debut with the band...

They started with an instrumental from the band before Aislynn and Betty Bam stepped up to sing... and we were straight into some powerful Voodoo Rock'n'roll.. playing, in their words, the music of Satan.... if we are all going to hell in a handcart, i hope this is the house band!!....

From there on it was a mix of new songs and familiar pieces, and a reference to the impending christmas single (Black Xmas)... with a couple of covers... Aislynn roaming into the audience during a particularly powerful version of "Fever" and later a great version of "White Rabbit" (Grace Slick's original vocals on it being some of the greatest in rock history)

Throughout, the band were on great form, playing and singing superbly and clearly loving every minute.

A great set, as always, and I really loved it...

Finally, ANDERSON (from Crazyhead), tonight backed by QUARKS... to be honest i preferred Quarks performance backing Anderson to their own set.. they played driving rock/punk and fitted perfectly with Anderson.

Anderson himself has a long pedigree singing with bands and uses his experience, vocal prowess and undoubted charisma to great effect leading the band and delivering a terrific set...

Again, difficult to label the music, but i guess punk ... but all high powered, energetic and hugely enjoyable, getting the dancers moving and singing along throughout... he introduced a guest towards the end, a second guitar player, and from there they turned the heat up further

The songs were mainly originals, though there were some covers, a couple of motown songs which i didnt recognize and Cher's "Bang Bang"... all given the unique Anderson stamp...

A fabulous set by a performer who is a master of his craft...

Thoroughly loved the evening... three quality bands delivering high powered sets with tons of energy and joy... what more can you want from a sunday night?

Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues

Total Clash

TOTAL CLASH

Duffys 6th December 2025

What a night this was... another superb event from @Wakeup Promotions, watching the outstanding TOTAL CLASH rock through 36 Clash classics in a barnstorming brilliant two hour set. The sound and delivery was authentic Clash, and the musicianship of the highest calibre...

Absolutely no nonsense or set fillers... the band hit the stage and promptly announced "Capital Radio" and they were rocking.. within seconds so were the audience and the pace and quality never let up through the 2 hours.

After "Captial Radio" came "Janie Jones", then "Clash City Rockers" and the classics just kept on coming.... impossible to pull out highlights, the whole set was superb...

As the set built the classics kept coming and the heat and intensity of the show, and the audience built and built... by the time we were into what proved to be the last third of the set when things were rocking nearly off the scale, up came "English Civil War" which seemed to take it up another level until the ecstatic ending set of "Casbah", "Complete Control" "Tommy Gun" and the inevitable "White Riot" ending the show on an all time high...

Obviously there were encores... "Should I Stay". "London Calling" and :"I Fought the Law" which brought the curtain down with the audience ecstatic and rocking like crazy

The band is incredibly tight and rocks like fury.. .driven by powerhouse drumming and a pounding bass while the guitarists play superbly rocking along gloriously...though maybe the main focal point is the powerful high quality vocals wringing the most out of the songs

The Clash were among the very cream of the punk bands, and Total Clash deliver their short sharp, often pithy and always pointed, songs to perfection...

A superb evening in the company of a truly superb band.. .i am sure that, like me, the whole audience loved every last second of this terrific performance

Just check the set list (following) to see what a bunch of great classic songs we heard...

Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues

Cool Rekz/Gingcko Cloud/Obi Denim

COOL REKZ/GINGCKO CLOUD/OBI DENIM

Soundhouse 5th December 2025

A rare visit to a gig at the Soundhouse tonight... but before i look at the music, a few words about the venue...

I think there are two things we can agree on.. .audience numbers everywhere are not as great as they might be... and tonight, friday... was damn cold and very wet

So... tonights gig was advertised as "doors open 7.30"... the venue changed it to 8.15 without telling anyone or up putting out a notice to that effect... they didnt have the courtesy, or sense, or basic decency to check if anyone was outside queuing to get in out of the cold and rain... there were.. in the process they effectively turned away paying customers and totally pissed off people who were already inside.

The reasons offered for the delay were "we are still soundchecking"... so why was this not done in time to meet the opening time, or at least close to it... and in fact the soundchecking had finished considerably before they finally opened up.. .

Once inside, i have never been into a venue so unwelcoming and lacking in spirit, with lethargic and disinterested seeming staff...

Finally they removed my drink, only half drunk, without checking because i wasn't standing guard over it, had no idea what to do when i challenged him about it and finally offered to replace it, but only after i had (sadly) sworn at him.. i cant imagine i will ever go there again...

So... onto the music...

First up was Obi Denim... i saw him and reviewed him a couple of weeks ago and came away with the same feelings I did then... Obi does what he does incredibly well... but for me i find the electronic backing track somewhat impersonal and the whole thing a tad boring... a talented artist doing his thing incredibly well, but sadly just not to my taste...

After this... Gingko Cloud who i also saw only a couple of weeks ago, and they confirmed their qualities... i really like this band.. . they play with great spirit and energy, put on a great show and are musically excellent... powerful drums, pounding bass and some lovely growly dirty sounding guitar topped off by a larger than life singer with a great rock voice... They appear to have a ball playing... and that communicates

Top of the bill were Cool Rekz, a band i hadnt seen for a while. They themselves would say they are not looking to play the Albert Hall and are by no means perfect but they play because they love it...and give it 100% every time.

This was the first time i'd seen them with the second guitarist, and his inclusion is a good move... it beefs up the sound beautifully and they do rock... sure there were a few mistakes and moments of confusion, but overall this was a thoroughly enjoyable rock performance by a band who always give it their best... and do really entertain... some of the vocals didn't come over as clearly as they could, but no worries... another fine set.

Huge credit to all of the acts for giving it their all despite the disappointing turn-out...

All in all, what should have been a thoroughly enjoyable evening somewhat devalued for me by the venue...

keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues...