There are
curses and then there are curses… For The Groovies, bad luck never seems to be
far away, and once again it had struck as Roy Loney fell after going through
security at the airport in SF, paramedics intervened and instead of boarding
the plane to the UK, he was wheeled away to hospital.
So the band flew
in without him. A very difficult situation to contend with for the band as the
shows were supposed to highlight the Teenage Head album… so without Roy it was
going to prove impossible to go ahead as planned.
The show must
go on…
The band
reconvened in the UK and worked out a set, including some tunes from Teenage
Head that they felt they could pull off on stage without Roy. Following gigs in
Manchester, Glasgow and Newcastle, they arrived at Abramovich’s vanity
Roadhouse at Stamford Bridge
Although through
Facebook, many knew that Roy wasn’t appearing, the information obviously hadn’t
reached everyone who attended. I didn’t see a sign at the door explaining the
situation. This should really be remedied for the next shows
Anyway back to
the music. With Cyril being the only original band member, on display a lot depended on
him, however the band really rose to the occasion. Chris Von Sneidern (CVS) who
is a real talent in his own right, having released some stellar Powerpop albums
in the 1990//2000s. Chris also has a new album “Emerge”, which I am about to
discover. Last time (with Chris Wilson) CVS was on bass, but this time he
switched to guitar which suited him and the band much more. Atom (his real
name!) Ellis filled bass duties with much aplomb and provided a solid bottom end. Last, but not least, Tony
Sales on drums really lifted proceedings with his drumming and his vocals were
really good taking the lead of on several Teenage Head songs and providing
great harmony work with CVS.
Cyril was
simply Cyril. It must be remembered that he is 71 years old, and while he mostly
pulled it off, many of the songs were being played too slow. Shake Some Action
in particular needs to be shifted up a gear, especially as it’s the opener.
There were some
great moments, but the key moment for me was the guitar interplay between CVS
and Cyril on Don’t Put Me On with both men playing parts that gelled
wonderfully together. Thanks to Tony’s vocals; the Teenage Head section also really worked,
great to finally hear the Cyril’s slide part on High Flyin’ Baby
As the tour
progresses, the band will get even better, they just need to work out another 3
or 4 songs. If Cyril wants to play some 80s material, I strongly suggest they
drop Way Down Under (always a naff tune) and try Way Over My Head instead. Also
the set was sorely missing Whiskey Woman.
It's all about
managing expectations and making the most of a difficult situation. Roy is not
going to re-appear during this tour which must be incredibly frustrating for
him and everyone concerned.
So I suggest
everyone goes to see the band and marvel at the effort the band is putting into
these shows, and actually enjoy the songs on the understanding that this may be
the last time that a Cyril fronted band will ever play Europe again
There will be a
Mike Wilhelm tribute show in SF in October, I hope this is the occasion where
all Groovies past and present, can come back together in a suitable tribute to the
great man
In the meantime
– good health and recovery to Roy
Pic of Roy 6th
June 2019
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