270 VELVET CRUSH, Drugstore, 18 Wheeler, London Islington Powerhaus, Friday 3 June 1994

Hit the smoke for this hotly-anticipated one at 8.15 - a new venue for me in London! Geoff, Brett and Dianne from The Julie Dolphin turned up, so Clive and I had a chat with them before the first band came on. 18 Wheeler, from Scotland, sounded very much like Teenage Fanclub (surprise surprise!) with their chunky riffs and harmonic sing-along choruses. Not too original, but not too bad either, and definitely a promising new album to check out...

Really not sure what to make of Drugstore, the second band on at 10. A diminutive lady vocalist with serious Kristen Hersh fixations and a strident but occasionally grating voice was initially off-putting, but then a couple of splendid originals seemed to win me over; then they did a slow-paced, plodding version of the Undertones classic "Teenage Kicks" which was frankly god-awful. The jury is definitely out on them...

Thankfully Velvet Crush, an odd looking combo indeed, brought some class to the proceedings. Short, chunky helium-voiced vocalist Paul Chastain also plucked some mean bass, guitarist Jeff Borchardt hit some spellbinding wah-wah and sported a mean pair of sideburns, extra guitarist Mitch Easter (I discovered later) embellished the sound, but the star was undoubtedly drummer and band leader Ric Menck, an amazing focal point with his splendid driving rhythms and occasional forays to the front of the stage, to chat to the crowd.

Despite all the stick Velvet Crush get about being Big Star homage freaks, to me they're more occasionally Byrds-ian in their jangly country and rock hotch-potch. It was no surprise (to me, at least), therefore, that they capped their gorgeous set (which drew mainly from forthcoming new LP "Teenage Anthems To God" (!) and culminated in a superb "This Life Is Killing Me" - rocket in its' pocket and all!) with a cover of McGuinn's "So You Wanna Be A Rock'n'Roll Star". And rather splendid it was too!

Had a chat with Ric afterwards and got my set list signed - a great way to end a superb evening!

285 VELVET CRUSH, 18 Wheeler, London Highbury Garage, Friday 17 February 1995

A slow start to the gigging year thus far, but they're going to start coming thick and fast now! This one was also a "first"; the first time in 3 attempts that "Nibs" has managed to actually get into the gig, following a couple of sell-outs! We (me and Nibs, plus Dave, Ady and Clive the drive) arrived at 10 to 9 after a difficult journey through London, full of anticipation for "The Crush". But first, the sorcerer's apprentices, as it were; support 18 Wheeler, who took the stage dead on 9. They kicked off with a rocking start, which dipped slightly midway through the set, when they started to come across slightly derivative of Teenage Fanclub. However, they then picked up noticeably later on, with "Revealer" a highlight, and a set climax much more like their magical, harmony-laden LP.

The venue was well packed for "The Crush", but I still managed to squirm my way down the front for their entrance at 10. Led on by drummer and mainman Ric Menck, an imposing figure in denim, with scruffy hair and a drop-handlebar moustache which gave him the impression of being none other than the lost Doobie Brother (!), the Crush, also augmented tonight by extra guitarist Tommy Keene (apparently a quality singer-songwriter in his own right, as I later found out), kicked off a majestic set with swirling oldie "Window To the World". A splendid selection of their country-tinged rock ("powerpop, I guess," Menck himself called it!), which was touching and careworn in parts (such as the wonderful "Why Not Your Baby", introduced after quite a preamble by Ric!), and breathlessly manic as you like in others (such as the brilliant "Atmosphere" and the frantic, incendiary "This Life Is Killing Me") followed. Utterly wonderful musicianship, excitement, a well-rocking set climax, the usual Crush lunacy from the mesmerising Menck, and a whole lot of great songs played with passion and care; this all equalled one brilliant set!

298 VELVET CRUSH, Pusherman, Birmingham Hibernian, Wednesday 12 July 1995

Whoo, where to start on this one? I picked up the NME this morning and noticed a tiny note in the small Gig news section, to the effect that not only were the Crush playing this gig tonight, but that they were doing so with Gigolo Aunts frontman Dave Gibbs in tow! So, I took a crazy flyer and headed off, getting to the gig (following lucid instructions provided by the venue) in time to catch Dave and the Crush walking up the road, saying "hey" in the process!

After a quick drink, I went into the venue - a dingy and totally rock'n'roll pub side room with posters blacking out the windows - to catch the jolly unnamed Blur-esque local support band dish out some derivative but cute Brit-pop.

I wandered out during Pusherman's clumsy noise of a main support set, and got to hang out with a now-returned Dave Gibbs and the Crush's vocalist Paul Chastain in their tour van. Cool! Dave was genuinely pleased to see me and we spent over 1/2 hour chatting, catching up and listening to good, rockier-sounding demos from the new Gigolo Aunts LP, currently tentatively called "Trying Out For The Race". Dave also played me a track by a hot new band he thought I needed to hear, which turned out to be 1994 Reading Fest's top new band Scarce!

Bopped back in - a late gig, this - in time for The Crush taking the stage at 10.45. Drummer and band-leader Ric Menck, red t-shirted and handlebar moustache gone, was again the star of the show, popping upfront to chat to the audience and introduce the band including, "Dave, who has his own band The Gigolo Aunts, who had a top 30 hit with "Where I Find My Sunshine"!". The sound was brilliant, pindrop-perfect, and the Crush were dynamic and barnstorming, concentrating on the rockier elements of their sweeping 60's-influenced musical range, and Dave's rhythm attack and unique harmonies augmented their sound marvellously.

The set, however, REALLY took flight after Ric dealt with a drunken heckler, who, he said afterwards, "really bummed me out". Despite remaining kit-bound thereafter, he led the band through the remainder of the set in totally blistering fashion, scorching though the numbers in incendiary fashion, as though they had to prove their rock credentials. Nothing to prove to me, though, as I formed the apex of an expanding and enthusiastic moshpit. Brilliant beyond words!

Mutual compliments with Dave and Paul afterwards, and a quick chat with Ric, before hitting the road with my ears ringing. Well worth it - and the midweek late night; in at 1.30 am! - though, for one of the best gigs of this, or indeed, any year!

642 MATTHEW SWEET/ VELVET CRUSH, London Mean Fiddler, Sunday 12 September 2004

One hell of a gig, necessitating one hell of a journey, as it fell on an Evan stay weekend! We dropped Evan off in North Wales at 2 pm, then hammered down the M40 South of Birmingham to get to Shepherd's Bush and park up about 6.30, tubing in and getting some grub before hitting the venue at 7.15.

We were confronted with a very intriguing prospect as we got in - we knew that Velvet Crush would be a part of Matthew's backing band (Crush stalwarts Paul Chastain and Ric Menck had accompanied the great man over last time) so it was no surprise when the classified ad in the Reading Festival programme announced da Crush as support. What was a surprise, however, was spotting a long set-list on the mixing desk, containing both Sweet and Crush numbers! A joint set, perhaps?

So it turned out to be! They kept us waiting until just after 8.30, but Matthew and the rest of this 5-piece band took the stage, bursting straight into a dark. menacing new number, "Dandelion". Matthew then led the band through a brilliant selection of perfect powerpop, touching and heart-felt melodies, supremely harmonic choruses, and occasional dusty glimpses of Americana. Returning to his old "Girlfriend" album regularly, the emotive "I've Been Waiting" and the thrilling, soaring "Dead Smile" were both brilliantly delivered early statements of intent.

Matthew then introduced "Sick Of Myself" as, "a Velvet Crush number", before Chastain took the vocals as they played a 6-song vignette of Velvet Crush classics, either side of a mid-set break. The squalling wah-wah of "Ash And Earth" and the heady sprint through "Atmosphere" were the highlights of this Crush sampler, with Ric Menck firmly staying behind the drum-kit, despite exhortations (mainly from me!) for him to come to the front and talk to us!

Matthew took over vocals again with a brilliant final section, a beautiful "Someone To Pull The Trigger" a highlight, before a single encore of a rootsy, rocky "Girlfriend" punctuated a superb set. Or two! I grabbed a list, and despite slight disappointment at their not completing all the songs on it (it would have been great to hear the frantic Crush number "Drive Me Down"), we realised that, 2 short breaks notwithstanding, they'd played for 1 3/4 hours straight!

And, apparently, judging by his references to jet lag, noted aviatophobe Matthew had actually flown over! Let's hope he does it again - soon!