On Sunday 31st July I went to a great gig in Milton Keynes.
And I thought I’d tell you all about it. If nothing else, another gig write-up will counter-balance the profusion of motoring related posts that my regulars have been subjected to in recent weeks.
But…
…now that motoring has come up, I can’t help but digress a little – in this instance, I’ll not start as I meant to.
“Go On Hamilton!”
I am loving Lewis’ comeback. It’s been joyous watching him reeling in and then overtaking Rosberg in the 2016 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship. Long may he reign supreme!
I digress I know, but the comments above are relevant for a few reasons, the first of which is that Hamilton’s victory in Hockenheim occurred on the 31st too.
It had been a good day even before the gig!
And that brings me back on track. My buddy Hughesy accompanied me to the gig at the Craufurd Arms in Wolverton; on the bill were “Desert Storm” (a band regular readers will be familiar with – for previous reviews, see links below – why not read those too and that will save some repetition in this post) and the headline act “Honky”.
Desert Storm
Desert Storm (DS) took to the stage at 8:15pm – this time around, all five members of the band were present. After an introduction, during which the guys mentioned their increasing familiarity with the venue (I may have been to all the band’s gigs at the Craufurd Arms), they proceeded to rock through this nine song set.
There were a few tunes that I was unfamiliar with (4, 5 & 8) so hopefully it won’t be long before I/you/we have another album release to enjoy.
When the nine tracks above were done, it was about 9pm and time for the set-up for Honky to get underway.
Before I get to the headliners though, I want to finish off my DS feedback. At the end of the evening, Hughesy and I spent some time chatting to the band members in the beer garden (I use that term loosely, no greenery evident at all, much tarmac instead). They were happy to converse, there was no standoffishness or any sense of celebrity-style-superiority – just a decent band and a decent bunch of guys too. Chris White (guitarist) and I spent a while chatting about F1 (my earlier digression relevancy reason two). He is a firm Hamilton fan too.
Honky
By way of background, Honky is an American three piece band that harks from Austin, Texas. The band members are J.D. Pinkus (Bass/vocals), Bobby Ed Landgraf (guitar/vocals) and Trinidad Leal (drums/vocals), all are seasoned rockers with multiple, well known bands on their CVs. The style of music is a kind of sleazy, southern-style hard rock.
Honky is on a 23 date European tour, concluding next week, which included 12 UK dates (where Desert Storm supported in more ways than one – more on that later).
At 9:15 Honky took to the stage. J.D. and Bobby Ed, both long-bearded, tattooed and wearing white straw Honky branded (via embossed leather hat bands) cowboy hats made a pairing that, to me, was reminiscent of ZZ Top…but more hillbilly. During the set the two would occasionally doff their hats to each other and then to the audience.
J.D. played a smart looking aluminium flying ‘V’ bass and spoke with a Texan drawl that I couldn’t follow at all during the set (though bizarrely when I spoke to him after the gig, I had no such trouble understanding him).
Bobby Ed, with his broad brimmed hat, thin face and long beard looked a bit rat like to me but he had/has a ready smile and he played his Gibson Les Paul with phenomenal skill - at times he’d be racing through, error-free, fiddly, technical solos with his eyes closed. Respect!
I have an electric guitar and I can’t even play my chords properly without paying close attention to where my left hand is on the neck (and even then duff notes and other errors are inevitable). Hughesy, a guitar player too (though much, much better than me) was in awe of Bobby Ed. On a few occasions before the gig even started, he’d made a point of saying that “Langraf is good, really good”! And of course, Hughesy was right.
The Honky set was significant – see below.
If Bobby Ed hadn’t given me a set list at the end of the gig, there’s no way I could have kept track of this haul of songs. You might think from the above that the band played all night but at roughly three minutes a track, the set was all done in about an hour.
For the final song, Bobby Ed handed over his guitar to Chris White from Desert Storm then left the stage and joined the audience. What a sign of respect/endorsement from a famous rocker. Chris played all the way through “She’s Mad” like he was a full time member of the band; his performance was seriously impressive. Bobby Ed meanwhile was entertaining the punters, posing in selfies and having a good time in front of the stage.
And having a good time is a good way to sum up the event for everyone in attendance – the band members included. It may have been a Sunday night in Wolverton, but the guys from Honky looked like they were having fun and were pleased to be there. They didn’t just disappear after the show either, there were fans to chat to, photographs to be taken (with said fans) and merchandise to sign.
After the show, I went to the merchandising stall and bought “Corduroy”, Honky’s latest album and “Balls Out Inn”. Bobby Ed made an effort to find a Sharpie marker pen and then all the band members signed my CDs. Bobby Ed shook my hand, asked my name and then remembered it later too.
Returning to the beer-not-quite-garden (mentioned earlier); in discussing the tour with the fellas from Desert Storm, I found out that the guys had picked up the Honkies from an airport in Scotland and that all of them had been travelling around together since. They all got along well and there was some mutual respect evident on the stage and off it too.
All in all I had an excellent night (Hughesy has similar feedback) and will see either band again any chance I get.
Reflecting on the Honky experience, it amazes me that you one can see a non-UK band that is this good in such a small venue like the Craufurd (and for such a reasonable ticket price). I am increasingly a fan of this venue (other notable experiences have included “The Atomic Bitchwax” and “Samsara Blues Experiment”) and am already looking through the upcoming bookings to find my next outing.
By way of an encore, I listened to Corduroy as I drove home. And it has been played through many times since.
Photos by Hughesy - click to enlarge
And I thought I’d tell you all about it. If nothing else, another gig write-up will counter-balance the profusion of motoring related posts that my regulars have been subjected to in recent weeks.
But…
…now that motoring has come up, I can’t help but digress a little – in this instance, I’ll not start as I meant to.
“Go On Hamilton!”
I am loving Lewis’ comeback. It’s been joyous watching him reeling in and then overtaking Rosberg in the 2016 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship. Long may he reign supreme!
I digress I know, but the comments above are relevant for a few reasons, the first of which is that Hamilton’s victory in Hockenheim occurred on the 31st too.
It had been a good day even before the gig!
And that brings me back on track. My buddy Hughesy accompanied me to the gig at the Craufurd Arms in Wolverton; on the bill were “Desert Storm” (a band regular readers will be familiar with – for previous reviews, see links below – why not read those too and that will save some repetition in this post) and the headline act “Honky”.
Desert Storm
Desert Storm (DS) took to the stage at 8:15pm – this time around, all five members of the band were present. After an introduction, during which the guys mentioned their increasing familiarity with the venue (I may have been to all the band’s gigs at the Craufurd Arms), they proceeded to rock through this nine song set.
- Outlander
- Astral Planes
- Signals From Beyond
- Drifter
- Brawl
- Too Far Gone
- Queen Reefer
- Convulsion
- Enslaved in the Icy Tundra
There were a few tunes that I was unfamiliar with (4, 5 & 8) so hopefully it won’t be long before I/you/we have another album release to enjoy.
When the nine tracks above were done, it was about 9pm and time for the set-up for Honky to get underway.
Before I get to the headliners though, I want to finish off my DS feedback. At the end of the evening, Hughesy and I spent some time chatting to the band members in the beer garden (I use that term loosely, no greenery evident at all, much tarmac instead). They were happy to converse, there was no standoffishness or any sense of celebrity-style-superiority – just a decent band and a decent bunch of guys too. Chris White (guitarist) and I spent a while chatting about F1 (my earlier digression relevancy reason two). He is a firm Hamilton fan too.
Honky
By way of background, Honky is an American three piece band that harks from Austin, Texas. The band members are J.D. Pinkus (Bass/vocals), Bobby Ed Landgraf (guitar/vocals) and Trinidad Leal (drums/vocals), all are seasoned rockers with multiple, well known bands on their CVs. The style of music is a kind of sleazy, southern-style hard rock.
Honky is on a 23 date European tour, concluding next week, which included 12 UK dates (where Desert Storm supported in more ways than one – more on that later).
At 9:15 Honky took to the stage. J.D. and Bobby Ed, both long-bearded, tattooed and wearing white straw Honky branded (via embossed leather hat bands) cowboy hats made a pairing that, to me, was reminiscent of ZZ Top…but more hillbilly. During the set the two would occasionally doff their hats to each other and then to the audience.
J.D. played a smart looking aluminium flying ‘V’ bass and spoke with a Texan drawl that I couldn’t follow at all during the set (though bizarrely when I spoke to him after the gig, I had no such trouble understanding him).
Bobby Ed, with his broad brimmed hat, thin face and long beard looked a bit rat like to me but he had/has a ready smile and he played his Gibson Les Paul with phenomenal skill - at times he’d be racing through, error-free, fiddly, technical solos with his eyes closed. Respect!
I have an electric guitar and I can’t even play my chords properly without paying close attention to where my left hand is on the neck (and even then duff notes and other errors are inevitable). Hughesy, a guitar player too (though much, much better than me) was in awe of Bobby Ed. On a few occasions before the gig even started, he’d made a point of saying that “Langraf is good, really good”! And of course, Hughesy was right.
The Honky set was significant – see below.
- Corduroy
- Sancha
- Plugs, Mugs, Jugs
- Buckle Bunny
- Double Fine
- Ain’t got the time
- Don’t Shoot
- Riddle Cap
- Woke Up Dead
- Undertaker
- All For Nothin
- Baby Don’t Slow Down
- Snortin’ Whisky
- Love To Smoke Your Weed
- Walkin’ On Moonshine
- Outta Season
- WFO
- Just A Man
- Smokin’ Weed With Helios Creed
- She’s Mad
If Bobby Ed hadn’t given me a set list at the end of the gig, there’s no way I could have kept track of this haul of songs. You might think from the above that the band played all night but at roughly three minutes a track, the set was all done in about an hour.
For the final song, Bobby Ed handed over his guitar to Chris White from Desert Storm then left the stage and joined the audience. What a sign of respect/endorsement from a famous rocker. Chris played all the way through “She’s Mad” like he was a full time member of the band; his performance was seriously impressive. Bobby Ed meanwhile was entertaining the punters, posing in selfies and having a good time in front of the stage.
And having a good time is a good way to sum up the event for everyone in attendance – the band members included. It may have been a Sunday night in Wolverton, but the guys from Honky looked like they were having fun and were pleased to be there. They didn’t just disappear after the show either, there were fans to chat to, photographs to be taken (with said fans) and merchandise to sign.
After the show, I went to the merchandising stall and bought “Corduroy”, Honky’s latest album and “Balls Out Inn”. Bobby Ed made an effort to find a Sharpie marker pen and then all the band members signed my CDs. Bobby Ed shook my hand, asked my name and then remembered it later too.
Returning to the beer-not-quite-garden (mentioned earlier); in discussing the tour with the fellas from Desert Storm, I found out that the guys had picked up the Honkies from an airport in Scotland and that all of them had been travelling around together since. They all got along well and there was some mutual respect evident on the stage and off it too.
All in all I had an excellent night (Hughesy has similar feedback) and will see either band again any chance I get.
Reflecting on the Honky experience, it amazes me that you one can see a non-UK band that is this good in such a small venue like the Craufurd (and for such a reasonable ticket price). I am increasingly a fan of this venue (other notable experiences have included “The Atomic Bitchwax” and “Samsara Blues Experiment”) and am already looking through the upcoming bookings to find my next outing.
By way of an encore, I listened to Corduroy as I drove home. And it has been played through many times since.
Photos by Hughesy - click to enlarge
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http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/eating-drinking-and-rocking-on-the-cowley-road
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/desert-storm-and-some-other-noisy-bastards
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The Craufurd Arms
Previous Desert Storm posts
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/desert-storm-at-the-craufurd-arms-a-gig-review
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/eating-drinking-and-rocking-on-the-cowley-road
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/desert-storm-and-some-other-noisy-bastards
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