New York Dolls - Manchester
By Chris Rockson
I'd taken time out from my regular bump & grind day-job to pick up my daughter from her home in the next town. She was quite excited about going to see the Dolls play live...even more so, when I broke the news to her that I was gonna be meeting a couple of old friends from the band for drinks...namely Messrs Conte and Yaffa.
The two Dolls arrived at the bar across from the Academy in Manchester, which was basking in some late summer sunshine..quite a rare occurrence for this city, I can tell ya! We ordered a bottle of 'something red' from the bar and a couple of glasses. Steve's wife, Hadda, was sat with us...very beautiful and natural, she relaxed with some girl-talk with my daughter whilst I quizzed the guys on all things Doll-Like and also got the low-down on their respective other interests outside of the NY Dolls. Both Sami and Steve had brought me promo copies of their new works...both featured elsewhere in this month's mag...go check!
Anyway, after a couple of hours relaxing, it was time for the guys to go and do what they do best....
Breaking out onto the stage, they arrive to massive applause from the almost packed venue...they'd upgraded from the original choice of Academy 3 on the strength of good ticket sales. They walk straight into 'Babylon' which immediately gets the attention of the crowd...the sound engineer has gone to sleep, well, at least it appears that way! The mix is dreadful!!! Steve Conte was mixed out almost completely, the drums were all over the place and the overall sound was shambolic! Ok, so I'm a muso...I care about these things!! Fortunately though, I'm prepared to put up with it, and so are the masses! They pogo the night away, song after song, they dance like monkey's all nite long!!
There's a much more relaxed approach to the Dolls these days. They seem to have gelled better than some people may have thought they would. I mean, the shows with Arthur in London and the following tour, I thought they appeared a little stiff and over-rehearsed...not tonight! It all seems so easy nowadays...
Crowd pleasers such as 'Private World' [ dedicated to Arthur, as the author ], 'Pills', 'Human Being' are mixed with new material, and they stand up just as well. Major credit to the new members, Steve and Sami, seasoned pro's anyway, but fit like a glove when playing the tunes of their predecessors. Brian Delaney has to be one of the hardest hitting drummers I've seen...ever!!! He really kicks the shit outta his kit...never misses a beat...a real rock n roll rythym machine! Syl & David? Well, they ain't changed one bit...slightly older looking versions of Syl & David, but quite capable of blasting out with the best of them!
Its all over too soon, as they return to the stage to blast out a lightning paced version of 'Personality Crisis', to a moshpit gone-mad!
The guys were great...too great in fact! the audience was willing them to play just one-more-song-please..but the curfew was long overdue. It's time for another record guys..[hint hint]...Thanks for yet another rocking night!
Chris
Sami, Daughter Rosannah, Steve at KroBar pre-show