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The BMF Tail End Event 2001
Another excellent BMF bash. Thanks "Big Day" for loaning us loads of your gear and for putting up
(and taking down!) our back drop, what a nice bunch of lads you are and what a superb band too!
Becky
Lisa
Liddy
Becky
Liddy
Amanda
Bikers!
Some of these photo's were taken by Matt Black of Biker's Web (THANKS MATT!)
All the rest were all taken by "Fat Nick Davies - The Larger Lout" Thanks Nick for struggling in the dark and from a distance!
Here is Nick's review of the event:
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As these things go, the BMF show is becoming an institution. For those who do not know of it the British Motorcycle Federation is regarded as the respectable face of motorcycling in the UK. Each year, at the East of England Showground, the BMF put on two shows which fall at either end of the motorcycling season, May and September. Hence the September show is known as the 'Tail End'. On these occasions BMF members ride in by the thousand to pitch their tents on the site and devote themselves to three days of barbecues, browsing the trade stalls and enjoying the entertainments laid on for their diversion and pleasure. Through the day there are fairground rides, a wall of death show, stunt riders, jugglers and 'Moped Mayhem' racing - a destruction derby for the lightweights of the motorcycling world. But when the sun goes down, the rough, tough bikers like to boogie on down to live seventies and eighties party sounds. Cover bands and tribute bands prevail.
The Playgirls are a rock covers band, with an all-female line up. I was introduced to the band some years ago and through this privilege got to know the members of the band and helped out at several other appearances prior to last Saturday's at the BMF Tail-End show. I once saw Playgirls do their version of the Kinks hit 'You really got me'. This was no mechanical note for note replay of the Kinks classic hit, this version lasted about twelve minutes and was exhausting to watch, let alone perform. I didn't want it stop, except out of sympathy for the performers and the demands on their stamina. I never got to see the Kinks play live, and I probably never will now. I don't know if I would have enjoyed the Kinks' performance as much but I know I never will find out. The Playgirls band is a community of overlapping friendships and acquaintances. Some members join, grow and move on. Some join in for the thrill of performing in front of an appreciative audience. Significantly, the line up is made up of serious, career musicians who's passion is music and whose livelihood is performance. It was this confidence, commitment and professionalism that enabled Playgirls to easily conquer last Saturday's unpromising venue, the concrete-floored and echoing cavern that is the No. 1 exhibition shed at the East of England showground. I do not mean to criticise the BMF for the venue, rather to compliment the sound crew, the lighting designers and the technicians who did a fine job in making the show a success. Playgirls came onto the stage for the second set of the evening, after 'Big Day'. I mention this because at one point the evening seemed like an exhibition of 'Song 2' renditions. No-one seemed to mind and I'm sure that even those who heard the number performed earlier were grateful for the chance to hear it again later in the evening. The line up for last Saturday's show featured Liddy on drums (and vocal on the aforementioned Song 2), Amanda on bass, Lisa on lead guitar and Becky on lead vocals and guitar. A cynic might observe that and all-girl band at a biker gig will always get a sympathetic welcome, and I would agree up to a point, that point being around the end of the first number because bikers tend to be an unforgiving bunch and you don't get asked back over and over again if you're dismissed as crap. The Playgirls are devoted to the music they play and to giving the audience a good time. The band gave the audience a real treat. When they came on, the great echoing barn was about half full. Within a few minutes of starting the set, the crowds were striding in briskly from the far corners of the showground and the barn was soon crowded with approving leather clad rockers, rocking. Becky fronts the band. Her silvery hair is streaked with purple and green. When caught by the lights Becky is transformed to a flame-crowned priestess in fishnets and Doc Marten boots. A veteran of the glorious heyday of punk, Becky's vocal performance is female without being feminine and abandoned yet controlled. Becky roars out from the front of the stage, intimidating her audience with her presence, dominating the crowd, drawing them into the song and sharing it with them. Becky does not just sing, she marches from one side of the stage to the other, projecting her presence to all the audience. She takes up the guitar and sings to a microphone, her body crooked and writhing with the power of the lyric. She kneels crouched and quivering and an instant later is bouncing high in the air, like an infant overcome with the exuberance of living. If I ever write a rock song, I want Becky to perform it. Amanda is a rock bass guitarist, and does what rock bass guitarists do. In the manner of many of her kind, Amanda stands away from the front of the stage, almost in the shadow of the equipment, the bass line punches across the echoing cavern of the barn laying down time and key. Yet she is neither shy, nor passionless. In the gloom, Amanda's eyes glitter with life, when the light catches her she moves and bounces around unlike any other bass player I have ever seen. Liddy drums for a living, and drums for her life. I have never seen a drummer so fast and determined. On one occasion I saw Liddy change gear and belt out the rhythm in double time, a wall of drumbeats. No, I mean a torrent, an avalanche. I also saw the incredulous looks between the members of the band, and the sheer admiration from those members of the audience who realised what was going on. And yet Liddy sits low behind her kit towards the rear of the stage. Only in the most cramped venue will an audience see the drummer behind the drums. I assure you though that they know Liddy is there. Which brings us to Lisa. Slender and dark haired, Lisa plays with concentration, accuracy and style. Whether power-chording through a rhythm guitar piece or wringing a screaming solo from her guitar, there is an evident well-practised discipline there. Lisa gets it right every time and when the music takes her, Lisa stamps and sways, her hair flying, right arm windmilling and smashing the sound from her instrument. This is no clockwork recreation of sound, this is music being played with passion. All of which brings me to another point. There is a difference between men and women. Put four men together in a rock band and they will compete with each other, for attention, for prominence, for recognition. This is a matter of evolutionary biology, the selfish genes expressing themselves in the drive for power, property and a mate. An all-woman band, I suggest, does not suffer from the same stresses. When I see The Playgirls at work, there is no ego at work, no struggle for dominance. I see a team working together, having a good time and giving their audience a good time, and long may they continue to do so. Fat Nick Davies, The Larger Lout |