Posted on March 10, 2010 - by Editor

Joey Cape + Tony Sly + Jon Snodgrass + Duncan Redmonds

Jon, Joey, Tony © Imelda Michalczyk

Islington Academy
London, UK
Thursday 4th March 2010

Having enjoyed a phoner interview with Joey (Lagwagon) and Tony  (No Use For A Name) about six weeks prior to their European tour kicking off, I was pretty damn excited and keen to see the guys accompanied by Jon Snodgrass on this tour . Tagging along with the guys was Brian, a pianist who was bought on board as Tony quipped “to make them sound professional”. In addition, on this London leg of the tour Duncan Redmonds from Snuff would be paying his solo material, having personally recently fallen back in love with Snuff after their NOFX support slot last year; that just added the icing to the cake as it were.

The venue, the same as Joey and Jon’s visit from about 11 months ago and Jon’s more recent visit with Chad Price in their Drag The River guise was noticeably more full from the onset, the addition of Tony Sly as additional crowd puller I’m sure swelling the numbers; the NUFAN  man visits the UK for the first time to perform his solo material of the recently released “12 Song Program”.

The tour to date, which both Joey and Tony had regularly been updating on various social media, promised to be a carousel of musicians taking to the stage to perform their own respective material with interchanging support both instrumental and vocal on various songs, and then the guys would cover each other’s and other popular songs as the show progressed.

Duncan Redmonds © Imelda Michalczyk

First up however Duncan Redmonds, the drummer and vocalist from Snuff amongst others(Guns ‘n’ Wankers, Billy no mates, Duncan’s Divas, The Toy Dolls), label mate on Fat Wreck to both Joey and Tony would lead in the night playing his acoustic set of songs with a couple of Snuff, Billy No Mates and Guns ‘N’ Wankers songs thrown in the mix. Although most of the crowd had obviously come to see the Joey/Tony/Jon show, they were appreciative of Duncan’s performance and Joey (who pre show had hinted he was not quite prepared for his collaboration with Duncan for a Snuff song) came on to the cheers of the masses and played dutifully although looking slightly lost at times during the song, he pulled it off.

There wasn’t much of a pause before the trio took to the stage and the bar by now had been running full tilt to accommodate the pretty packed room of punters, eager to rush stage wards and embrace a front row view of the performances to come. One thing the show certainly offered was value for money as it was still early in the night before the guys entered the fray which promised over  two and a half hours of music, a sneak peak of their set list revealing over 45 songs due to be played besides the usual requests. Also the murmur was growing to a full blown din and the racket would be a welcome relief to the guys as they had all discussed previously that shows with a vocal and drinking crowd promised a lot.

Jon Snodgrass © Imelda Michalczyk

Enter Jon Snodgrass, thick bespectacled (same shirt as last year which Joey would mock later in the show), Joey Cape; sporting touring beard/stubble and Tony in black pocket cap with Brian in the back left corner on his keyboards. With an abundance of songs to choose from, with their respective full blown bands, solo, collaborations and covers all thrown in the eclectic mix, (Joey in charge of the set list) starts off proceedings with ‘Alien 8’ and the quartet seamlessly interchange to deliver a ranging and enjoyable grouping of songs leading straight into NUFAN ‘Not Your Savior’.

More recognised tunes immediately sparking the lungs of the crowd to life as the bar room banter softens to out of tune vocals as every fan sings loudly to share in the moment with their heroes who effortlessly but wide grinned deliver their acoustic renditions of songs played a thousand times before. Pre show Tony had hinted that for bigger shows as tonight the set list would be less flexible but they are all seasoned performers who can tune into a crowd and atmosphere and their song selection and adaptations for the pre drafted list are

Tony Sly © Imelda Michalczyk

inspired as the set has a great balance of ups and downs but seldom gets tiring despite the length of the performance. The vast vocal subtleties from the three front stage showman all offering something different and how they have managed over the course of this tour to learn, at times master and at time fail, but light heartedly so, the great number of songs is astounding. Brian notably wins the crowd over too with his support play and received a warm applause for his own song performed near the close of the set.

It’s not simply a constant stream of songs, there is banter, jokes, crowd interaction a plenty as you would expect and an easy going and enjoyable pace to the whole night. And it’s easy to see how much each of the guys onstage are enjoying themselves, some more drink plied than others it would seem, and they vocally return their appreciation.

Joey Cape © Imelda Michalczyk

The night ends off with an encore that includes personal favourite ‘To all My Friends’ and concludes with perhaps the finest version of NOFX’s ‘Linoleum’ I have ever heard, and the sing along crowd is boisterous and chuffed with the night and join the line-up to take photos shake hands and bid farewell to an event which is becoming more regular and thankfully so. See you next year guys, or sooner I hope.