Black Zeppelin
The Fleece
Ashton in Makerfield
17th March 2017
Black Zeppelin – Wigan, UK
Links:
Genre: Classic Rock from Sabbath & Zeppelin
Biography:
“Black Zeppelin is a 'double-tribute' featuring the songs of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin in the same evening. As well as the expected classics, both sets will feature a few rarer album tracks not always covered by Black Sabbath & Led Zep tribute bands!”
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It certainly was an eventful evening at The Fleece last night but for varying reasons. Being an absolute lover and admirer of Zep and Sabbath I was itching for the band to get on stage and start playing, but Oggy wanted to go to another pub for a drink or two so we went into the Kings Arms opposite and it was empty apart from a few punters you could count on one hand and then the Karaoke began and it was like hearing a dog howling as this guy absolutely debauched the track (I think it was Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond) but it could have been the Sex Pistols for all I could hear, the noise was crippling, so much so I couldn’t stand it and we got out quick and made our way back to the comfort of The Fleece.
I spoke early on with a woman called Chris and we got on really well, and she gave me the heads up on the band and what to expect, as I had never witnessed them live before, great making new friends and this is the way to do it and not just by Facebook alone!
And what seemed like an eternity finally, 9.45 PM arrived and thanks to Mike G the band's vocalist I had a seat right at the front, which he kindly put aside for me.
From the start of their first set which was all Led Zeppelin, I was hooked. It was just magical hearing the songs I listened to at 15 years of age and made more poignant was the fact I never got to see Zep live in Knebworth in 1979. So for the first time hearing Zeppelin live was just amazeballs for me!! Even if they weren’t the real Zeppelin!
Kevin Brown, the band's drummer was just like a young Bonzo – I told him so, he just possessed that drive and energy needed to make the band sound compelling and awesome to watch and even the rest of the band say Kev is highly respected and I can see why. But the three members all gel on stage and as mentioned by Mike Grady the band voice and bass licks said “We love what we do!” and boy did it show!
I loved Mike G’s introduction to the track The Ocean he said, up here it’s called Th’ocean!” and so it is, but it didn’t make it any less compelling having a slightly different title attached to it. I just love Wiganese! :D
Track after track was just mind-blowing – I sat literally ‘dazed and confused’ open mouthed at Mike’s strings and the way he manipulated them on his guitar, it was Jimmy Page mastery! (Without, the bow of course) It also helped that Mike Grady looked a lot like Robert Plant so that was a bonus in itself.
Oggy’s Son Steven turned up and a bit later Darren Oggy’s brother turned up so it was nice seeing the little family gathering. Later on, I bumped into Viv Hankin who was looking well but sadly didn’t see Al.
As the first set came to a close the band left for a quick break and mingled with the wall to ceiling hordes that had turned out to see them despite an absolute deluge of extremely wet weather - which says a lot in my book.
As the band reintroduced themselves to the crowd to deliver their doom-laden Sabbath set applause kicked in and screams and shouts were echoed around the room. But a little surprise lay in store for vocalist Mike Grady just as the band were about to go into their second Sabbath number someone produced a massive Birthday cake – and I mean massive! Much to Mike’s amazement and amusement as he celebrated his 56 Birthday the day before, so the band caught him off guard - great moment indeed! (I so wish I had brought my camera, but Oggy said it would probably be wall to wall and so pictures would be very few, but I will always regret the decision of not being armed with my camera)
The Band invited everyone to get up and have a piece of cake and Mike announced over the microphone “Fuck the midnight curfew!” which was shouted loud and proud to the dork over the road who has probably now got his wish to close the pub down, so it is with real regret that this weekend could see the end of the Fleece for good as yet another venue closes its doors to memories that are lost forever, but not without Roadhog playing their final gig there tonight.
As the band finished they were met with screams for more, the small pub was still bustling with punters well after 12. So they finished their set with a Led Zeppelin classic – Rock n Roll and another classic from Sabbath Symptom of the Universe – the place was literally bouncing!
As the band left the stage, I saw Oggy trying to calm a woman down at the bar – her name was ‘Sarah’ and she was visibly upset and she told me that some chav had accused her of pushing him – which was unlikely seeing as she had a walking stick and had suffered a stroke… then I noticed Oggy talking to a guy in the next room and went over to investigate – another woman sat at a table on her own, her name was Rachel, and Oggy’s temper was rising after it was discovered that he had also accused Rachel of the same thing. Oggy went into Sir Galahad mode and was telling this idiot a few home truths and in the end the bar staff ushered this drunken moron out of the pub, however, maybe about ten minutes after that I heard a young girl crying and found out her name was Alice and she had just come in from outside the pub to witness her father and boyfriend lying in the road. Her step sister Natalie had been struck by the door of this drunken moron and that made her hit the back of her head on the door behind her, Mark, her father went out to see what had happened and this evil piece of scum had apparently attacked him, literally, knocking all his front teeth out. The police were called but they didn’t show up – at least not while we were there.
I got the lowdown of what had happened from Julie (another friend of Black Zeppelin – yes they do have a large following now!) and then had another lowdown from Alice it didn’t sound good at all.
After about ten minutes it became apparent that these two people Mark and his daughter Natalie plus Alice’s Boyfriend, needed hospital attention so I asked someone if an Ambulance had been called and nobody had called them so Jane (a follower of Black Zeppelin) called and gave them all the details. We continued to try and do what we could for these three people and hoped that they received the proper care and attention they so needed.
It was a very bittersweet night, for a couple of reasons, the obvious one was that the venue is soon to be closing its doors for good, and the fact that the raised voices and abusive and assaulting behaviour was so unlike the Fleece, usually everyone just wants to have fun, but even Josh a member of the bar staff looked visibly shaken as to what he had just witnessed, but putting that all aside the sweet moments were Black Zeppelin who gave a fantastic performance to a lively crowd, and a gig that will be memorable for a long time.
Sabbath and Zeppelin – how can you go wrong? Mike Smith the guitarist explained to me after the show,
“I wanted to form a Zeppelin band and our Mike wanted to form a Sabbath band as he'd always wanted to play bass in one. (As he also plays guitar too) So I jokingly said let's do both, and we rolled with it. We thought fuck it, nobody else is doing it. So we did it 🙂. I'm a massive Zeppelin fan first and foremost!”
I think it is the winning lottery ticket for sure. We had a thoroughly enjoyable evening, despite the fracas that unfolded later on.
So if you see a poster with the words BLACK ZEPPELIN splurged across it I urge you to take note and go and see them live – you won’t regret it in a million years!
10/10
Set 1
In The Light (intro tape)
Custard Pie
Communication Breakdown
Immigrant Song
Celebration Day
The Rover
Heartbreaker (Moby Dick mid-section)
Over The Hills & Far away
Dazed & Confused
Misty Mountain Hop
The Ocean
Black dog (out in the tiles intro)
Whole lotta love
Set 2
Behind the wall of sleep
Black Sabbath
Iron man
Into the void
Hand of Doom
Hole In the sky
N.I.B.
War Pigs
Fairies wear Boots
Encore
Rock N Roll
Symptom of the Universe
Line-up:
Kev Brown – Drums
Mike Smith – Guitar
Mike Grady – Vocals & Bass
Special mentions to The Fleece Bar Staff Josh and the crew for coming to the aid of people who needed it. Darren and Steven Lee, Chris, Sarah, Rachel, Viv Hankin and Al, Sean Breadster Melling, Mark, Natalie, Alice and her boyfriend – hope everything turns out ok for you all! Julie and Jane who danced the night away in front of the band, and of course to my wonderful Oggy who makes everything better! And playing at the Fleece tonight for another round of classic bone-crunching rock! (Sorry for the lack of photographs)
