Firstly I’d like to let everyone know that this was my first foray into the rancid underbelly of rock journalism. Take heed now as NME may soon be calling upon my services…..Or maybe not!!.
My initiation took place on a Wednesday night at the Limelight in Crewe. Now, this was a good venue to start, as it’s my local club! The Limelight is a live music club that has bands on most nights; brilliant tunes on the jukebox and loads of stuff happening to keep you amused. The atmosphere and people are really cool; it’s well worth a visit! Go and have a look at their website on www.zero-k.demon.co.uk/limelight.htm.
Wednesday night is probably not the best night to play and from what I could understand there had been minimal publicity for this gig, so the band was on a bit of an uphill struggle to begin with. But the word had obviously to a travelled as the band-room slowly began to attract the discerning Crewe public. It was a small but select crowd which included quite a few friends of the band, resulting in a sort of friendly, casual atmosphere.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of Her Majesty’s Secret Goblin, so I began the evening with an open mind. When I arrived at the club I picked up one of their fliers (which had been strategically placed around the venue!) which described their influences as Pink Floyd and Ozric Tentacles, amongst others. Hmmm, I thought, not really my cup of tea!
But to be honest I was pleasantly surprised. They played a set of 12 songs including the obligatory Floyd cover of ‘Lucifer Sam’ and a brilliant version of Hawkwind's ‘Knife Edge’. Their own songs included a Rush-like anthem ‘Brave New World’ and a grunge fuelled ‘Chaos Drive’. Out of the bands original material, these two songs together with the reggae inspired ‘Dream Circuit 8’ were definite highlights for me. Some of the songs I found a little long and pretentious such as ‘Egyptoid’ and ‘Remote Soul’ but these were in the minority. However, the audience seemed to share none of my slight misgivings, giving the band a rousing cheer after every number.
The band themselves hail from the Stoke-On-Trent/Crewe area and consist of Dave, Andy, James & Simon. Lovely lads the lot of them! I was surprised to learn that they had only been together for 2 years as they were obviously accomplished musicians and songwriters and seemed to ‘gel’ together very well. I was impressed with how professional they came across, in particular the stage set and lights, which you don’t expect with a small band.
All in all I had a really good time and would definitely go to see Her Majesty’s Secret Goblin again. They’ve even got me re-evaluating my opinion of Pink Floyd - now I’m sure my other half has an album of theirs somewhere……..
