McQueen - Rock 'n' Roll Royalty

Common ground

2007-11-30T16:22:00.000Z

I was walking along the seafront at Brighton on the afternoon of 1st November, asking myself what was the lure of McQueen that had dragged me so far from home? I am fully aware of the fact that one of the reasons I like the band so much is because I am decidedly under-stimulated most of the time, so decent entertainment impresses me immensely. I dare say if any four girls in their age group were to jump about and sweat profusely in front of me, my heart-rate would increase dramatically but there's more to it than that!

Brighton was a nice experience. People calling me "mate" and "darling" was quite pleasant (in Teesside mate only seems to appear in the sentence "ow mate, lend us a fag" or occasional variations involving the requirement of cash to buy drugs) and the mass of white buildings and intergalactic hotels were a nice change from the endless charity shops and boarded up pubs back home.

The atmosphere at the Engine Room was amazing from the off. Those in the know had gathered to have a good time and the noisy approval received by support act Fresh Fabrik indicated that the roof would be off when McQueen played. Hayley's dad recognised me from pictures on the band's forum and stopped for a quick word; he seemed like a thoroughly decent chap and as I walked away I was hoping he had not read any of the sick jokes I had posted on there. Perhaps if he had he would have been less inclined to chat!

Numerous die-hard fans, some of whom had made much longer journeys than mine to attend, had their party heads on, guaranteeing that I had good company for the evening. The band came on to a brilliant reception and did not have to really work the crowd, the majority of them knew the songs and responded wildly from start to finish. Hot, a bit drunk and standing next to Leah's mum at the front, I had a wonderful sense of being at home during that gig, knowing that there was nowhere on earth I would have rather been.

I still find it immensely odd that a girl group from the South coast should be the one I can most relate to. If there are other young bands out there who can write powerful tunes like Not For Sale and Neurotic, and perform them like their lives depend on it, I haven't heard them. McQueen also consistently demonstrate real integrity which sets them apart from thousands of mediocre wannabes. The man in the street doesn't know who they are yet, but there are no celebrities I would rather meet. I don't even like most of the bands McQueen cite as influences. The only link to common tastes I can think of is extremely tenuous. Leah grew up liking Skid Row, and their original front-man Seb Bach once said that Unleashed In The East by Judas Priest is his "favourite album of all time." Same here although I have it tied for first with Visions Of The Emerald Beyond by Mahavishnu Orchestra.

I have always tended to be quite inhibited, when I used to front a band I felt less so. McQueen seem keen to let their audiences know that inhibition is not necessary, and encourage them to let their hair down at the gigs. Very easy in Brighton! Okay, I'm getting nowhere over-analysing why I love McQueen so I will finish with the mis-spelt words of super-fan Bisto, who described their music as, "realy great hooky tunes that i can jump around to till the end of time."

Thanks to Cath for sensual photos.

Stage presence and absence

2007-10-13T20:22:00.000+01:00

It's worth going to Manchester for the breakfast in the Britannia hotel. I was there last week to stuff my face and also to watch McQueen on the opening night of their UK tour. Manchester Roadhouse is exactly the kind of back-street basement for sleazy rock although I was a little concerned that Hayley's drum-kit appeared to be set up in an under-stairs cupboard at the back of the neighbouring martial arts shop. A greater concern was the unexpected absence of bassist Gina Collins, who had become very popular with McQueen crowds since joining at the turn of the year. Funnily enough the first time I saw Gina play I was concerned about the unexpected absence of the previous bassist, Sophie Taylor! These things seem to happen without a lot of attention being drawn to them.

Before the gig the band sounded very upbeat about the situation, had plenty of nice things to say about Gina and were confidently looking forward to playing after a lot of short-notice rehearsal time with bass player Kat Bax. Their confidence was well-founded and they kicked arse. Kat had a virtually mistake-free debut and showed she is a very competent player, but was, unsurprisingly, a bit static onstage. She was introduced near the end of the gig, to a lot of favourable noise. The other Cat seemed to have benefited from all the rehearsing and was particularly on her game. All her licks were extremely precise and biting, belying her naturally loose guitar style.

From the shoe-cupboard, Hayley thundered like a meticulously planned air-strike and her shout of "Come on Manchester!" was greeted with some of the loudest cheers of the night. The blonde banshee called Leah prowled as majestically as ever, some measured fist-pumping here and just enough head-banging there to let you know that she is wild but always in control. Stage presence. Shit-loads of it.

When I arrived I was worried about the possible negative effects of the latest line-up change on the band's momentum, but I was probably not giving them enough credit for their determination. There's been a lot of graft put into this band, and it doesn't look like stopping. Two nights later I saw them do it all again in Newcastle with a better sound and a bigger crowd, a great night, but they give it what for every night.

Six quid

2007-09-28T21:08:00.003+01:00

This fine picture is from Mardagg.

When I was fourteen (cue music from the old Hovis advert) I already thought that life was passing me by. I was starting to go out and watch bands, but I felt that I had already missed the finest hours of many of my favourites. I was well into the NWOBHM, but I had already missed the great tours that built up the momentum before this very British type of rock broke into the mainstream. For me it was the Golden Age, so recent but out of reach forever.

In the late seventies UFO, Thin Lizzy, Rainbow and of course many other heavy rock bands pounded away despite the media obsession with punk and new wave. I didn't get to see Rob Halford leathered up and whipping the audience on the Judas Priest X Certificate tour, Motorhead with Saxon on the Bomber tour or Iron Maiden with Paul Di'Anno. Most unfair of all in my opinion, was the fact that I wasn't at the Heavy Metal Barndance at Stafford Bingley Hall in 1980.

All these gigs I had read about made me feel that I was a latecomer to the scene and that I had caught many of the bands too late, past their best even. As if to prove me right, big-haired American bands, all sheep in wolves clothing, came along to steal their audiences and sell out big arenas while the bands I liked might as well have been playing in skips and shop doorways.

In the time since then, all the decent rock bands (Nirvana, Jane's Addiction and Rage Against The Machine come to mind) seem to have come from the USA. This meant that I was unable to catch them on the rise, when rock bands are at their hungriest and best. I got very enthralled by Love/Hate in the early 1990s but they got dropped by a major label, a label who then had the cheek to send me mail-shots about a band I couldn't stand. That was pretty much the end of my interest in new rock bands.

Then in the Summer of 2007, still under the influence of Hayley's Jedi mind trick (which causes me to check for McQueen tour dates nearly every day) I finally saw the dates I was looking for. The band had announced their second headlining UK tour of the year. When I looked for details I discovered that the tickets were six quid. Six quid, the cost of a pizza, or twenty fags. McQueen in concert, in my neck of the woods, for six quid. Fuck the past, the Golden Age is now!

Break The Silence - a totally biased review

2007-07-18T00:21:00.000+01:00

This is a heavy metal album. I don't mean to upset the nu-generation of music fans in their off-the-rack alternative clothes, who could point out the genre sub-divisions into which Break The Silence falls; but that's what it is, like Wheels Of Steel, Ace Of Spades and British Steel (all of which came out and conquered the charts in the blessed year 1980.) Like those classic albums it is consistently catchy without being cheesy (okay British Steel is cheesy) but maintains a hard edge throughout.

A previous single release, Like I Care/You Leave Me Dead, has a great sleeve and fairly irrelevant content. Break The Silence has a disappointing sleeve and murderously important content. A primer 4 track CD, Kickin' Off, contains some songs from the album, and announces the forthcoming album, You Had It Coming To Ya. I wish that the album had come out with that title as it is a great line from one of the songs that defines the group.

This album kicks the fuck out of you in your living room and then has the temerity to sit in your hi-fi, waiting for you to recover so it can do it again.

1) Neurotic.
Masterpiece. If McQueen become a major attraction it will be on the back of merciless tunes like this.

2) Dirt.
I didn't get this one on first hearing, but it grew on me, especially through seeing live performances. Basically killer.

3) Running Out Of Things To Say.
Catchy, but a weak choice for a single, considering the album it comes from.

4) Break The Silence.
Great vocal treatments help create an atmosphere on this song. Powerful and unrelenting.

5) Numb.
Sounds quite old-fashioned musically, but has a great vocal from Leah Duors.

6) The Line Went Dead.
Quality bludgeon, again featuring memorable vocals.

7) Blinded.
Stunning mix, monster chorus, some lovely guitar touches, even better live. Headbanging excellence! Hayley Cramer's tasty drumming is highlighted on this song. Although she is frequently cited as the major musical talent in this band, I think her greatest talent is always knowing how much to put into each section of each song, making herself an integral part of a tight, single-minded unit. Billy Cobham plays drums on some of my favourite albums and on other albums he puts me to sleep, no individual makes a band.

8) Bitch.
Mixed metaphors aside this is pure class. If you go to see McQueen live you will see the beautiful and talented Gina Collins, but this tune is a good reminder that the wonderful Sophie Taylor played bass on this album. All power to her.

9) Not For Sale.
The best song on a brilliant album. I find it difficult to have a conversation with male friends about this band without them latching on to the fact that McQueen are all female, at which point they start grinning at me in a knowing way, as if I have been going to strip clubs. The band have obviously heard plenty of that sexist shit over the years and their musical reply is the most powerful tune of the lot, every instrument is urgent and punishing, and the vocals totally deliver. I have seen Leah put hecklers in their place, and it is extremely refreshing.

10) (Don't Know How To) Break It To You.
I have listened to the album song by song to write my review, but this one doesn't do it for me. Having said that I consider McQueen to be first and foremost a live act, and the band's impeccable onstage timing still makes this a potential riot inducer.

I made reference earlier to albums by Saxon, Motorhead and Judas Priest, all personal favourites of mine. None of those legendary bands had a debut anywhere near as good as Break The Silence. To establish themselves McQueen will have to deliver an even better follow up album. The exciting thing for me as a fan is knowing that they are more than capable of it. Leah Duors fronts a band as well as David Lee Roth or Steven Tyler, and she still has stories to tell and a soul to bare. I look forward to it.

Lack of a ticket

2007-07-01T21:36:00.000+01:00

I was talking to another McQueen fan at their gig supporting Tesla at Shepherds Bush Empire (28/06/07) and described to him a strange ailment, that I was delighted to hear afflicts him too! I find the experience of watching them live a euphoric thing, but no sooner have they left the stage then I become aware that I no longer have a ticket for one of their upcoming shows. This leaves me with a sense of unease that can only be repaired by the purchase of another ticket, or at least hatching a plan which will result in the purchase of a ticket as soon as possible.

On the McQueen forum I found a posting by a fan who was at the Shepherds Bush gig, spoke to the band afterwards and was compelled to go and see them in Holland two days later.

"I saw McQueen last night at Shepherds Bush in London and they talked me into coming to RosRock but I have no idea where it is, how to get there or how to get a ticket!"

That's impressive. At another gig earlier in the year, I was talking to the drummer, Hayley Cramer, and I mentioned that I would love to be at a concert they were doing a few weeks later, on the same bill as Motorhead, another band that I am keen on. I was unable to go, because the gig was in Sweden, I did not have much money and I had various work commitments. Hayley said, "Come to Sweden," in a matter of fact way, that seemed to dissolve all of the aforementioned problems. The sound of the words coming out of her mouth seemed to be accompanied by an invisible fist striking me in the chest, as if to wake me up and let me know that this was the most important thing that anyone had ever said to me. I did not attend that concert, but the impact of the statement remained.

When I was a youngster, the Master (portrayed by Roger Delgardo) scared the hell out of me in Doctor Who. He used to hypnotise people, fixing them with his stare and speaking the line that still gives me goose-bumps, "I am the Master, and you will obey me." Where Hayley learned this art I have no idea, but she is very good at it. She's not as evil looking as Roger Delgardo (no beard for a start) so you don't think to avoid her eyes, before it's too late! I didn't go to Sweden but now I seem to be constantly focused on where McQueen are going to be playing and how I can attend. The Derren Brown thing certainly seemed to work on the other guy at Shepherds Bush who had to leave for another country without a plan!

Who knows, it may have been another member of the band who re-programmed this individual, I am sure they are all capable of it. Their live show seems to generate some kind of mind-control as well, so you're not safe just through avoiding talking to them. The very air in the concert hall seems to be whispering, "You're having fun, remember fun? You like fun!"

I have developed an addiction without noticing it.

Stage one: Hey, this band is good.

Stage two: Where did all these CDs come from, I don't remember buying them?

Stage three: McQueen are more important than my life, must purchase tickets.

You have been warned!