Entertainment For Lively Minds
The Fleshtones
Posted by MarkHagen on 13 March 2010 - 10:24pm.
When:
12/03/2010
Where:
Centre Cultural Gerard Philipe, Calais, France
Comments:
The Fleshtones Have No Shame. This is very important. Contemporaries of the Ramones, they have sold approximately 0 records over the last 35 years but this makes no difference whatsoever. Nor does the size or enthusiasm of the audience. No, The Fleshtones just flat out go for it all the time. Thus tonight we see, in no particular order, guitarist Keith Streng & bassplayer Ken Fox locked together and running round in small circles whilst playing each others instrument over each others shoulders, singer Peter Zaremba being ritually stripped of his sparkly stage shirt to reveal another even more sparkly one, the band forming a human pyramid to play one song, doing another from the floor while forcing selected crowd members to perform sit ups, wild leaps across the stage, James Brown-esque mic manouveres, sudden freezes into classic rock'n'roll stances and congas through the venue without dropping even a single note of their supercharged rock'n'soul. All you can do is surrender.
The Audience:
In a dodgy community centre wrong side track wise & patrolled by security men with dogs, it's Calais' 150 hipsters, several small children & 3 people from England. Combined age of total audience possibly slightly less than that of band.
Food & Drink:
Dispensed from behind a table - beer, water, wine & "boissons energetique". Not a crumb of food for miles.
It Made Me Think...:
that there's nothing much better in the rock & roll arena than seeing a band just doing what they love & what they utterly believe in. It's even better if they're funny & deadly serious both at the same time.
You lucky man!
I'd love to see them again - someday I will!
The best gig I ever saw was The Fleshtones at Night Moves, Glasgow, November 83. I got a jolt when I saw some stills from that in the movie, with the big NM logo behind them as they grumbled about the UK.
I was...
...at that one too. Photos by Mr Hutton I do believe...
The Fleshtones Take Calais
Mark - Nice to meet you albeit briefly the other night. Can you imagine the Fleshtones breaking down those audience/performer boundaries on Later With Jules Holland? That would be a joy to behold. In the meantime here are a few written by one of les rosbifs who made it to Calais last Friday night. Cheers - Steve
http://www.fleshtones.org/index.asp?inc=newsread&article=206
Why won't they come to the U.K...?
It's soooo unfair!
The Fleshtones in the UK
The audience is not large enough. Believe, I have been following this band from '83 and know the score with regards to the UK. However, Peter Zaremba is keen to return to the UK in 2010. If if means the band sleeping on my floor or some other supporters floor then so be it. Any volunteers? I could get them a gig at the Dirty Water Club (fyi the Dirty Water label released "Vindicated!" tribute CD a couple of years ago) and The Corn Rocket Club at Ryans Bar in Stoke Newington. Both venues are run by people who know and care about the 'Tones. Ryans would be a great opportunity to have King Salami & The Cumberland 3 (think of Barrence Whitfield gate crashing a Dr Feelgood rehearsal) as the support band as Eric and UT from King Salami run the The Corn Rock Club. Ryans has a great condensation running down the walls basement vibe when there are more than 30 people inside it. Perfect for the Fleshtones. Zaremba also wants to play out of town - possibly in Brighton. In other words I reckon that a budget travel Super Rock weekend in the UK (or at least South East England) is workable. Like Mark said above, the 'Tones do it for the pure love of performing and as long as they are not out of pocket then they will be interested in returning to our shores. Hey, think of the young Peter Zaremba and Keith Streng watching the DC5, Yardbirds, KinKs, Beatles et al on their TVs in the mid-60s. Falling in love with that music and incorporating it into their music in later life. How would you feel to be continually slapped in the face, or worse ignored, by a country that has given you so much musical inspiration? RnR needs bands like the Fleshtones and the UK owes them a big favour.
Cheers
Steve
www.fleshtones.org
depending on dates, I'd travel down for it!
After all, Glasgow to London's not that far
I Don't Need No Doctor
Here's a clip of Keith (guitar) and Peter (harp) from the Fleshtones helping out the Bellrays last Saturday night during I Don't Need No Doctor.
Over and out.
Steve/Garageman & Mark
If you're in the London area are you free to come along to the next Word Bloggers pub booze-up on Friday 26th?
I'll be there along with el hombre so maybe we can have a bit of a Fleshtones chat/UK gig plot?
Plotting & Planning
Why not Retro Man! That day is the third anniversary of being in my current job so a drink or three might be in order. Please supply venue details. Btw I am gonna be spinning 45s at The Stag's Head on Orsman Road on Sunday night if anyone is at a loose end. Expect "No Sex" and "The Letter" plus some early Cramps in tribute to Alex Chilton. I still cannot believe he has gone. Damn.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=390415721368
Details in this link
http://wordmagazine.co.uk/content/word-drinks-london-friday-26th-march-s...
see you there !
Should be able...
...to make that I think, work willing. Not that I told you about it or anything, but I believe there's a Save 6 Music protest rally on the Saturday. Now if the Fleshtones came over, there's a radio station that would have them in. Promise...