The Deep Fried Wolfkuckles, The Bucky Rage, The Fnords - 13th Note

New carpet in the 13th Note, two new carpets if you count the wee entrance bit. Truly these are glorious times.

Mmmh, springy.

Hi, my name's Chris, I write many of the reviews on this site and I also play in one of the bands on tonight, The Deep Fried Wolfknuckles. Of course right now, when I'm typing this paragraph, its before the gig, some time around noon, I'm in the 'Note supping a beer, awaiting on a friend to come through for lunch. Not sure if the wi-fi thing here is on or my laptop (stolen from mother) is just playing up.

Its a funny old life, on the way in I had to stop at a joke shop to buy Zorro masks for the show, and I see that Darren Hayman's playing Sleazy's tomorrow, time to make up for sins of the past again and go along, right a proper review, try to bluster explanation as to what I meant in the other week's review.

We're on first so we soundcheck last, I get the call from Alan Wolfknuckle at 7pm, “Where are you?” on my way, so at 8pm I'm sat in the Note, guitar all tuned up, wondering where the rest of the band are. Luigi Wolfknuckle is in with his missus, Adam Plimptons in for moral support and sharing my nervousness. Somehow Alan and Dave have sneaked in the side entrace and are waiting downstairs wondering where everyone else is.

So it was one of the best soundchecks ever, we were blessed to have Uncle Brendan doing the sound, but he was off nattering so we rattled through a few of the new songs. I'm not sure who's amp I was using. But it sounded great, I didn't have to tweak anything.

Time passes, the café fills up, friends and acquaintances arrive, Brendan hollers that downstairs is open, people slowly drift down.

For weeks I've been pummelling Alan to spam places on the internet that I can't quite reach with flyers about the gig, after our last gig's turn out of five people (including bar staff) we didn't want to make the same mistake. Alas, off of the internet in attendance we have Robbie and a couple of Claires. A bit of a poor showing from other friends I'd hoped would come along although kind of reassuring, I know my place in the world..

The Deep Fried Wolfknuckles, already wearing their black shirts, don their Zorro masks and hit the stage. Its a ten song set this time, all our best ones and our favourite contemporary covers. The old rockabilly standards of “Outta Control, “99th Floor” and “Led to Believe” we rattled through at a hella pace. I think the newer, left field, covers of Saint Etienne's “You're in a bad way”, relic from MacSorley's Magnetic Fields' “100,000 Fireflies” and John Shuttleworth's “You're Like Manchester, You've got Strangeways” were particular eye openers for the crowd.

The Manchester song and Bad Way with it's “Lose yourself in London” were for me, and my departure from Glasgow. I understand some people in the crowd got quite emotional. I'd planned to get all emotional, but my mask had slipped and I was struggling to see, playing blind.

I missed the first chord of the my first chorus, and burst my finger open three songs from the end (Robbie - “I preferred your earlier gig injuries”). Dave dropped a drumstick during a solo four songs in. Alan gave up playing his bass halfway through cos he was knackered, so we ll kind of relied on Luigi as the bass-stomping backbone of the band.

The Bucky Rage were on next. Gillian (owner of Amydog) had to be excused as she has a phobia of masks. I'd make some comparison with the Village People, but well the was just one cowboy, on bass, a chap in a Mexican wrestler mask on rhythm guitar, the guy on drums wore a stocking with holes cut in it, and looked a little like a singing worm, and I couldn't see the chap on lead guitar.

They were louder and shoutier than the Wolfknuckles, more hardcore rockabilly, with a couple of Sonics covers. The drummer managed to split his cymbol at some point, which I was mighty impressed with.

Headlining for the night were The Fnords, two girls and a bloke on drums. In the film of the same name, he'd be played by Bill Nighy, one of the girls by Gwenneth Paltrow and I'm no sure who we had pencilled in for the other girl, Kim Deal perhaps.

Kind of spooky surf guitar, with neat 60's girl garage vocals, a set up from my usual reference point of Go Gos vocals.

Natalie, Gillian and Rosalind were engaged in swinging their pants and dancing with strangers, Robbie was nodding and mouthing along.

Particularly impressed with one of the songs called “I like to die”, I dunno, it just resonated in a neat rock n roll kinda way. I really loved the solos, I wish mine sounded like that, and the yelps from the bass girl, the Wolfknuckles could do with that sort of thing.

Was that the last ever Wolfknuckles gig? Does the fact that their least talented member lives four hundred miles away from the rest of the band mean that they are no more? I don't know about that. But it was great while it lasted I know, cos I was there.

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