Big D: Dave all clear
Posted by jamie on Dec 16, 2011
Fantastic news: Big D’s David McWane has had his operation, and it looks like it’s been a success. Here’s the full story from Ryan (out of the band):
*THIS JUST IN!* - Brie Finn, our Dolly on the Scene down there, has reported that Dave is OUT of surgery, did “terrific” (even though he was sleeping), and that the operation could not have gone smoother, and that the cancer is GONE!!!
Yeah, yeah, the cancer musta’ left to join a Scream-o Emo band! DAH!!!
But honestly, thanks everyone for your support, showin the love, and we’ll keep you all in the know of what’s happening, when it’s happening, where it’s happening…
THANK YOU ALL, BIG D FAMILY!!!
-Ryan/BigD
Big D: David McWane update /special shirts
Posted by jamie on Dec 13, 2011
Our friends from Boston’s Big D and the Kid’s Table have sent us this latest update on David’s condition. It’s good news. The short version is David will undergo an operation on 15th December, and should be on stage with the band again in Spring.
To celebrate, they’ve created some special t-shirts, proceeds of which will go to Cancer Research. You can see and get those here.
If the picture’s too small, you can enlarge it here.
Big D: UK dates CANCELLED
Posted by jamie on Nov 23, 2011
You may have heard by now, but Big D and the Kids Table have cancelled the remaining dates on their UK/European tour after Dave was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer, a cancer of the throat.
Here’s the full statement from Hidden Talent, their promoter:
I’m very sorry to inform you all of the cancellation the Big D & The Kids Table / Random Hand tour.
Yesterday Big D’s singer, Dave received a phone call informing him that he has throat cancer and must return to America immediately to have an operation. The band are currently driving from Barcelona to the UK To fly home. There isn’t much else they can do as I’m sure you will all understand.
Dave is a very positive guy and I know he’ll fight this.
Of course, we wish Dave all the best for a full and speedy recovery and hope to see him soon.
Random Hand / Big D: Underworld show
Posted by jamie on Sep 12, 2011
Big D and the Kids Table are back in the UK this December. They’re going to play with Random Hand, among others, on a super-exciting looking bill.
You can get tickets here.
See it on facebook here.
Big D / Random Hand: UK & European tour
Posted by jamie on Jul 22, 2011
Big D and the Kids Table are taking Random Hand around the UK and Europe with them. It kicks off in Kingston in November and finishes just before Christmas. You can get tickets here.
DATES IN FULL:
NOVEMBER 2011
15th: KINGSTON PEEL
24th: WERMELSKIRCHEN AJZ BAHNDAMM (G)
26th: ULM BETELGUEUSE (G)
30th: WINTERTHUR GASWERK (CH)
DECEMBER 2011
3rd: DUNKERQUE LES 4 ECLUSES (F)
4th: NANTES LE FERRAILLEUR (F)
6th: PARIS LES COMBUSTIBLES (F)
7th: MELECHEN METTEKO (B)
10th: LONDON UNDERWORLD w/Dirty Revolution
11th: PETERBOROUGH CLUB REVOLUTION
12th: MANCHESTER MOHO LIVE
13th: LEEDS COCKPIT
15th: BELFAST SPEAKEASY
16th: DUBLIN GRAND SOCIAL
17th: HIGH WYCOMBE NAGS HEAD
Big D: For the Damned..
Posted by jamie on Jul 12, 2011
12th July 2011
Jamie
For the Damned, the Dumb and the Delirious is excellent throughout, in so many ways. I’m still picking out lovely little details on every listen, and can’t pick favourite songs. There’s so much to love here. The tunes should, and surely will, be instant live favourites and it’s ideal for putting on at parties too. It’ll grab you instantly and it just keeps on giving. I keep finding new things I love: the female backing vocals and then the breakdown on Roxbury (Roots ‘n’ Shoots) are my new best friend, and they will be until the next one comes along. Gem.
Stand-out tracks:
Clothes Off
Modern American Gypsy
Rotten
My Buddy’s Back
Stringers
Roxbury (Roots ‘n’ Shoots)
Home
Big D: new “punk” record?
Posted by jamie on Jul 6, 2011
Just a rumour so far, but a juicy one about a new Big D record (and no, not Monday’s one, either)..
I have it on good authority that Dave and the lads will be taking the more punky and thrashy songs from their old split CD with Brain Failure, Beijing to Boston, as well as their unreleased thrashy songs they cut from their last album, For the Damned, the Dumb and the Delirious, and putting them together to create a new all-punk all-thrash CD.
I’m afraid I can’t take all the credit. This juice is from a well-connected, credible source who wanted to be anonymous. I feel like Perez Hilton or something writing this.
Get Big D’s latest record here:
New Big D record: interview posted
Posted by jamie on Jul 24, 2010
The Punk Site have posted an interview with Big D and the Kids Table. In it, the band discuss the plans for their new record, which expect to release in the autumn.
Here’s a sneaky taster:
We also have a new record coming out soon called the Damned, The Dumb and the Delirious. It’s going to be total ska-punk and it should be out in the fall…
I think this is going to be really fast, loud; I don’t think there’s going to be any slower songs on it. It’s going to be really balls to the wall. We just wanted to do that because we realized those songs are more kind of fun to play live.
Read the full interview here.
25th & 29th January: Sonic Boom Six, Big D and Reel Big Fish
Posted by jamie on Feb 2, 2010
Sonic Boom Six / Big D & the Kids Table
w/ Reel Big Fish
Birmingham Academy (25th) & Camden KoKo (29th) January, 2010
Jamie
Ok, let’s get something straight here: The truth is, really, we were here for the Sonic Boom Six (again). Be that as it may, though, Reel Big Fish’s ability to draw big crowds, take other established headline bands as support, along with their huge catalogue of brilliant good-time party songs, make this show a must see. Even at £20 (thanks to ticketmaster), who’d turn their nose up at Big D and the SB6 as supports?
Not many. Birmingham’s new Carling Academy was packed on a Monday, and it’s a lot bigger than Islington’s. The KoKo shows were capacity on both nights. We did the Birmingham show on a lads’ night out and it could scarcely have gone better. Friday, with the full posse, girls included, was ace too. KoKo could do with sorting its stairs out – and its only gents, right at the top, caused some amusing traffic jams where the unfortunate among us got blocked in at the urinals (but no one weed on us). They also had a club night on afterwards which meant that the Sonic Boom Six were originally scheduled on stage at the ridiculous hour of 18:15. Lines of us were still snaked around the building at nearer to 7, so it wasn’t all bad, but we were turfed out at 22:30 so that the Florence and the Machine brigade could have their tepid, spineless indie club night afterwards. Good luck with that one: it’s £5 a beer in there and it’s not even on draught.
The indestructible Sonic Boom Six (Laila’s words, not mine), opened on both nights and on both nights they were the best band on show. Minus Ben C on vocals and guitar, it was a strange and interesting experience to see his verses shared by Barney and Laila. Ben’s words “Went and bought the tape the next day” and “Spit with every word that they say”, etc, just sound different, of course, but the band have coped admirably. Obviously not all of their songs are ready for the new line up, so the shorter opening set might have been a bonus there. Not that it was something that any of us wanted to end. Everyone was down on time for this and the place went OFF. It was insane down there and awesome to be a part of. A big slice of City of Thieves is still the focus of the guys’ set, with the opener, Back 2 Skool and The Concrete We’re Trapped Within (It’s Yours) opening the show. Sound of a Revolution is in afterwards, and Through the Eyes of a Child
Oh, and the set. The SB6 were incredible. Hung over (on Friday), without Ben and, on Friday, without Matt, and on first they still had a sell out crowd flying all over the place. It’s a short, sharp set and they get on with it without bantering us. It puts meaning to the phrase “all killer, no filler”. This, I guess, is what the Reading/Leeds festival crowds got, but, the last RBF tour aside, I haven’t seen SB6 not headline since 2003 (with Whitmore). When Barney said they know how to start a party, we now know what he meant. Those rooms went from flat to all out super fast. Laila introduces Sound of a Revolution as a homage to Rage Against the Machine, which is greeted with a huge cheer for Killing in the Name’s climb to Christmas number 1 here in the UK. The song, with the Big D lads on horns, is a particular highlight, along with Through the Eyes of a Child. Strange Transformations, another gem from the band’s most recent record City of Thieves, which, for me, is one of the band’s very best tracks, is also a real crowd pleaser. The focus is very much on the band’s newer material, much of it from City of Thieves and the last track, Piggy in the Middle, is the first to come from 2006’s Ruff Guide to Genre Terrorism album. The new songs are excellent and SB6 deliver them with a real hunger. It’s testament to this that so many other great songs aren’t picked tonight and both shows are still frantic, those of us on the barrier getting squished in rhythm as the bit behind gets bigger and bigger and rocks giddily back and forth, mashing us all in the process. This could, and perhaps should, be a headline set. Sonic Boom Six have got everything and kick the night off with a bang. The lights are lifted on a blinking, breathless pack of gasping, delighted bodies. That so much of the night is still to come is, frankly, a little bit daunting, but we’re all still hungry for it.
A real surprise on this tour is just how good Big D and the Kids Table have got. If that sounds like some sort of obvious non-statement, then perhaps you haven’t been to this tour. Because we at Bananatown are already huge fans. It’s just that I’ve not really seen the Fluent in Stroll material toured before. On both nights, Big D were absolutely superb, even by their own standards. Steady Riot, Noise Complaint and then Fluent in Stroll open the set and it’s immediately clear that, without losing anything that made them them in the first place, they’ve really added a lot to their sound. The obvious example is that they’re touring the UK with a group of backing singers: two in Birmingham, and three in London after one flew in especially for the last show of this tour. I don’t know how far Boston is, and I could google it, but you get my point: it was well worth it, whatever. Something about their sound has become slightly more old-school. I was dubious when the grapevine told me about what they were doing here, not from a lack of trust, just that there wasn’t anything that needed changing, and the difference was so striking. They’ve totally pulled it off, though, and it makes for a really stunning set. Think about exactly how the Fluent in Stroll material should be performed live and that’s basically exactly what they’ve done. And they’ve nailed it. All the backing vocalists are female, by the way. Matching dresses, for the last show, in London, were a nice touch and the classic synchronized sways and clicks that choirs and backing vocal groups have been doing for 50 years made the ladies look as smooth as a very smooth thing. And they can really, really sing: it definitely adds to the set and really enhances all the songs on show. Hayley sings a tune to herself for good measure, too.
Big D’s set is basically one big, shaking, joyous singalong. Although it’s a shoutalong for two types who wriggled in in front of us at KoKo. That’s annoying at the best of times, but the girl was wearing leopard print and one the boy took his backpack in to the pit. Please, if you’re reading and you do that, never do it again. It just takes up everybody’s room. To stop a squashed girl from having angry words, I butted in and put it over the barrier for him with our coats and that. Hugs all around: it was that kind of night. In Birmingham, where there’s a lot more space, doors were a bit later and it’s not hotter than a pasty oven, we can move around a bit more. At KoKo it was just a big, baking hot squash in to the rail. All good fun, mind.
And so to Reel Big Fish. More recently there have been a few line-up changes, but, like them or loathe them, you know what you’re going to get, and neither of these shows are any different. Reel Big Fish come to the UK once a year and play the songs they’ve been playing for years. The reason this works is that they’ve got a huge back catalogue of really good party songs and they play them very well in concert. They do, as usual, have two excellent support acts: for SB6 and Big D read Suburban Legends and Random Hand last year, and SB6 and the Streetlight Manifesto the year before.
I saw them last year in Leeds, and, to tell the truth, by their standards they were a bit disappointing. After that, and, without a new record out since last time, and no original songs since 2007 I admit I was weary of this tour. Were it not for Big D and Sonic Boom Six on the bill I’d never have done two dates, and might’ve missed it out completely.
It’s testament to the pulling power that Reel Big Fish have, though, that, even though any of those could headline a venue of this size, they’re up for supporting. It also guarantees an excellent night’s skanking for all concerned.
Yes, Reel Big Fish have been playing these songs for ages. And I do mean ages: Trendy, I Want Your Girlfriend to Be My Girlfriend, Snoop Dog, Baby and Beer are all on Everything Sucks, which was released in 1995. But the reason that Reel Big Fish can keep touring this material is that it is that good, and brilliant for getting down to. That and the fact that they’re very, very good at playing live.
A packed out room waits for what feels like an age, only seeing the odd guitar-tech come out and say “one, two” in to a row of microphones before the headline act finally show. And this time they’re awesome. Everything is almost exactly as you’d expect, the usual set, with Sell Out first, The Set-Up (You Need This), Ban the Tube Top and Down in Flames. Those two, by the way, are probably my favourite RBF songs, but anyway. Laila K guests as the girl on She Has a Girlfriend Now and has an absolute riot with it. Especially on Friday, she’s hilarious, all jigging, skanking feet while she’s singing and just bouncing and milking the applause while Aaron and Scott sing the guy’s part. Everything Sucks, Your Guts (I Hate ‘em), and Snoop Doggy Dogg are all huge hits before You Don’t Know, with an epic drum solo by their new drummer The Rabbit which makes the whole room gasp on Monday night, and even needs an extra drummer for a little bit, before the band finish with Take on Me. They’ve surely played that song more times than A-ha by now. An encore is inevitable, and the songs really pick themselves from what hasn’t been played before. I’m sure we’ve all been here a million times before, but, while they can still pull this off, it’s daft not to like Reel Big Fish in concert. It’s just good fun. Another F.U Song, Suburban Rhythm, with all its many versions, and the “Masters of all musical styles” bit, etc, etc, and then Kiss Me Deadly. Whoah, that’s the three song encore. And they haven’t played Beer. Oh, there it is. Woot woot. Entirely predictable, but, if we’re honest, that’s part of the fun. They’ve got great songs, and they play them very well. It goes down a storm, needless to say.
Sonic Boom Six: stage times.
Posted by chips on Jan 21, 2010
The Sonic Boom Six have some scarily early stage times during their tour with Big D and Reel Big Fish.
“Norwich and Manchester are the one’s to watch”, says Barney, “with doors at half past 7 and us on at quarter to 8 and the second London show, with the unholy door time of 6pm and the Boom on at quarter past 6. As long as the indie kids get their NME night afterwards, that’s the main thing!”. Pah. NME. Pah, pah, pah.
