Roadhog
Live @
The Swinging Arm
Birkenhead
23rd
September 2016
Members:
Graham
Lee – Vocals
Kev
McGinn – Guitars
Neil
Humphrey – Bass
Pete
Almond - Drums
Not
having ever frequented The Swinging Arm previously, I was keen to see what kind
of a place it was, and was pleasantly surprised as this building appeared
before us right slap bang in the middle of a residential area, with a few seats
dotted about outside. On entering I was surprised at the venue’s pocket
handkerchief stage, but the atmosphere was friendly and warm with a great atmosphere
and definitely a rock pub! Its walls adorned various posters advertising bands
and my eye did catch a beautiful Harley Davidson logo that would have looked
nice on our living room wall!
The
staff were very accommodating and the punters in the building were friendly
too! So overall a good place to be!
The
view from the stage window was breath taking – seeing Liverpool lit up was
beautiful across the river!
As
the band set up, falling over themselves as well as their gear I found a seat
right in front of the stage, funny how nobody usually likes being in that
position, but front of stage is always good in my book, and the seating was
comfortable, arranged well and very eco-friendly as the bar was made from
wooden pallets!
Drinking
wasn’t on my list of priorities, but last night I thought why not? And not
normally I would go for Kopperberg Strawberry & Lime, however the Swinging
Arm didn’t do Kopperberg so a Brother’s Strawberry & Kiwi was bought and I
have now found my favourite alcoholic drink!
A
punter who saw the band some years ago asked could he video the band and put it
on YouTube – of course the band agreed and so his camera was set up to capture
the band live.
With
the pub being in a residential area there are strict times a band must start
and finish those times being 9.00 pm start and 11.00 pm finish, so it wasn’t
long after arriving that Roadhog hit
the stage.
The
tiny stage was awash with lights which made taking photos on my camera a no go,
but Oggy had his new phone and as I am not and probably never will be good with
them found taking photos on it very tricky indeed, although thankfully Jane
already having one made light work of sussing out our new one, but for me they
are definitely not easy to use! Come back camera all is forgiven!
The
audience were very responsive to the band and lapped up the banter in between
songs and even shouting their own responses to the Tourette-like Oggy who is
never short of a few words. The atmosphere buzzed, despite Oggy saying he
couldn’t hear himself on stage for the first set - but it sounded pretty good
to me.
Pete - Photo courtesy of Jane Craig
Oggy & Neil - Photo courtesy of Jane Craig
The
tracks got gleeful responses from the punters.
The old time classics came thick and fast and the band got into their
stride.
It
was really lovely to see Pat, Darren and Pat’s son Chris at the back of the
room. Daz is Matthias in the Scopyons Tribute band and they had travelled from
Bolton to see the band, which was much appreciated.
It
wasn’t long before the first set finished and a short break was taken giving a
chance for the band to catch their breath before resuming. Pockets of friends
gathered to have a catch up and not long after that the band were back on stage
to do their second set.
With
time constraints the band cut out quite a few tracks in order to be finished
bang on 11.00 pm but kicked off their second set with ‘We will rock you’ again
the audience participated and shouted in favour of the tracks.
Photo's by Pagan Hel
(Cursing technology!) *
One
small and hilarious moment was when Jane noticed from the hole in the bass drum looked something that resembled a small rodent, which was actually a blanket that most
drummers use to dampen any ringing the drum may have after it is hit, Instead
of having a slower sound decay, the blankets make the decay much faster, anyway, as
Pete hit the drum the blanket that resembled a chipmunk started to move and
Jane and I were transfixed on this for some time with tears rolling down our
faces.
The
band played favourites ‘War Pigs, ‘Cold Sweat’ ‘Forever’ and ‘The Zoo’
prompting Daz and Pat to come to the front of stage and rock out to it, hard
not to really as it is a favourite of many!
Oggy
enjoyed the second set a lot better than the first as he could hear himself for
the latter part of the gig although he always enjoys being centre stage and
dishing out the banter!
All
in all it was a great night in a great pub!
Catch the Mighty Roadhog playing Live at The Fox & Goose in Southport tonight, if you dare!
* Strange to think that I was accused of attacking someone's website at one point!! (But that's another story)
Special thanks to
the staff at the Swinging Arm for
their help, Jane for her company and
expert advice for the phone usage! Pat,
Daz and Chris for travelling
some distance to see the band, the
punters who added to the fun! The guy filming the gig and of course to Roadhog for squeezing themselves onto
the small stage to give another great performance! – We salute you!
