Saturday 27th November 1999

London - The Monarch

Ah yes, the London gig, for some reason always the most 'important' gig on a UK tour. For me, it is a hometown gig, even though I could never consider Camden anything like home, being a Sarf Londoner.

Amazingly I didn't feel that knackered after yesterday's gig, but got up bright and early, went to the Caff with Der, picked up the van and headed for New Cross to pick up the gear, Alain and Harry.

'Twas an uneventful journey across the London South / North divide, and even arrived at the venue too early. We went over to the pub across the road and had a swift half.

Loading into the Monarch is a pretty hazardous affair as the flight of stairs is steep and slippery. I couldn't do any heavy lifting though as I have a bad back (honest guv!).

For the first time in the history of Abdou, we had decided to bring our own sound engineer and of course it had to be ex-Carter and These Animal Men engineer, Sir Derek Fudge. He did a fine job in the sound check and even managed to get the notoriously difficult Monarch rig sounding very nice.

The on-stage was 'bizarre' as Alain would say in his Causican accent. It was a bit like being inside a barrel along with Andy and his bass amp. It wasn't Derek's fault though, it's the sound of the stage.

They two other bands, Ultrafine and Monkey Boy were then ready to soundcheck. It was great to see the guys from Monkey Boy again, I've been to see them quite a few times and it was my idea that they should play this gig.

We went over to the local Wetherspoons pub to get some pre-gig nosh. I had haddock and chips, which was very nice indeed.

We got back to the venue and there were already people in, I saw a lot of familiar faces and even some very fine Abdou shirts, which was very encouraging.

Before long it was time for Ultrafine to jump on-stage. Harry was well impressed with them as was both Ben and myself. They had shades of Black Sabbath which I found very appealing. The band are over from New York, I've always had a soft spot for New York bands. They are very nice chaps too and I'm hoping to hook up with them the next time I'm across the pond.

Next on were Monkey Boy, who confused, amused and astonished a fair proportion of the Monarch crowd with their highly disciplined, anarchic punk metal explosions (hey I should write for the NME...not). They are an excellent band and I'd have them on the entire tour if I could.

We went on a bit late due to provincial sloppiness and herbal remedies. Luckily the curfew wasn't until 2am so we were allowed to play a full set.

We came on-stage to our new intro tape, which I had knocked up the day before in Chateau Fruitbat. What followed was the most violent mosh that I have seen for many a moon. I did notice, however, that a certain Ben Lambert (ex Carter / Abdou and now in JSSW) was responsible for most of the aggro.

Although it was hard to hear how it sounded from the stage, everyone seemed to think that it was the best sound that we'd ever had, so I guess that it was worth getting Mr Fudge on the case. I really enjoyed the gig and loved having a BIG crowd once more. I want to thank everyone who came to the gig and clapped, danced, bought me drinks, kissed, punched, goosed and cuddled. It was a good night, let's hope we can have another like it soon.

Not at the Monarch though, the deal was shocking. 'Nuff said

Love fruity xxx