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Blog: Jim Bob at Shepherd's Bush Empire
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We had GUESTLIST tickets thanks to my International Rock Star Chum Mr Chris T-T, who plays KEYBOARDS for Jim Bob. This was a) wonderful but b) slightly terrifying too as I had no idea how being On The Guestlist WORKS at proper big gigs. I know how it works at MY sort of gigs - you go to the door and say "Er.. I think I'm on the guestlist?" and whoever's there looks annoyed, checks a clipboard, and stamps your hand and that's it. However, I've never BEEN on a guestlist at anything above PUB level, so didn't know what would happen. Should I wear formal dinnerwear? Would I have to eat a vol au vent? WHO KNEW?
Nerves were calmed slightly by some BEERS before going, including one of the most - if not THE most - expensive pints I have ever drunk anywhere in the world - EIGHT POUND FIFTY FIVE for just a pint of BEER! This was in The Green in Shepherd's Bush, where apparently it was "match day" (they had Sky Sports on?) which somehow justified it. I take delight in SCOFFING at the YOKEL ANTICS of my fellow Posh fans when they come to London and say "HOW MUCH?!?" in pubs, but gentle reader I must confess I did much the same here.
After that we headed to the gig and asked someone on the door where we went for the guestlist. "The guestlist window" she said, pointing to a window with a sign on it saying "GUESTLIST". We were given tickets and WRISTBANDS and the nice young person behind the glass looked slightly surprised when I asked what the wristbands were for. "They're for the aftershow", they said. "Ooh!" I thought. Or possibly said out loud.
Once inside we found ourselves on a BALCONY which had access to a really really nice bar, which was quieter and also CHEAPER than the one we'd just been in. It really was very nice indeed, I would have gone there for fun!
Suitably provided for we went and found some seats - SEATS!! - and settled in for the show. "I could get used to this", I said to Mr Sutton, and we agreed that it was v pleasant to have nice comfy chairs and a good view. At this point the view was of none other than Mr Spoons, who played at Totally Acoustic last year. Back then I had been surprised to see how NERVOUS he was about playing a gig in the upstairs room of The King & Queen, but I was now ASTONISHED by how CONFIDENT he was jumping, gyrating and dancing around onstage in front of several thousand people while occasionally dashing to the microphone to introduce the next record. It was pretty spectacular!
The spectacularity continued at precisely 8pm when Jim Bob himself came on and launched into a FORTY (40) song set. I mean, I knew that was the plan, but I'd assumed large chunks of it would have been MEDLEYS but oh no, not a bit of it, he played literally forty songs in a SPRINGSTEENESQUE marathon of ROCK that lasted almost THREE HOURS!!
The first couple of songs were just him on his own, but then his PIANIST came on and LO! it was the aforemention Chris T-T. This reminded me of the time we say Prolapse supporting Mogwai at The Roundhouse and I kept thinking "Oh look, there's Tim... onstage in front of thousands of people." This time it was Chris, what I was in the pub with a few weeks ago, just over there beneath a proscenium arch, ROCKING OUT. It was a bit strange, and made more so later on when Steve Pretty (who me and Steve shared a venue with in Edinburgh back in 2010) came on later as part of the horn section.
The full band came on after about half an hour and sounded AMAZING. It reminded me of what I imagine it must have been like in the mid-1970s going to see WINGS in their full Venus & Mars era POMP as a stadium band, with everyone ROCKING OUT through a range of HITS past and present. I must admit I do not know a huge amount of the Jim Bob back catalogue, but it sounded GRATE and was ESPECIALLY so when they did The Hits. When he sang "the grebos the crusties and the goths" in "The Only Living Boy In New Cross" I must admit I WELLED UP. When that song came out it was talking about The Modern Kids, but now it felt like a callback to history. "That was US!" I thought.
Occasionally we would peer over the edge of the balcony, looking down from our lofty vantage point to see the downstairs audience going FLIPPING CRAZY. The MOSHPIT was massive and MOBILE, with everybody bouncing around in great waves of dancing, and LOADS of crowd-surfing. The security staff were kept extremely busy and I must admit I did feel for them, as your modern Jim Bob audience is very much NOT all made up of the Skinny Indie Kid of yore. There will have been some sore knees and backs to go with the sore heads on Sunday!
INDEED the only thing I would even vaguely have changed is the fact that there was no break, which posed some difficulties for the CORE AUDIENCE i.e. everybody needed to go to the loo at least SEVERAL times each, but as we were all very much in the same bladder-boat as each other nobody seemed to mind, and a general air of COMRADERY pervaded the venue.
Mr Sutton headed off for his train just before the end - we knew it was nearly the end due to a) counting the songs (more people should specify exactly how many songs they're doing) and b) the fact that Fruitbat had come on, to the EXTREME delight of the whole room. I stayed in my comfy seat and then after the encores when everyone was heading out I went to another member of security staff and asked where I was meant to go for the aftershow. "Just here," she said, stepping aside to give me access to exactly the same lovely bar I'd been in before.
I very sensibly got myself a pint of Alcohol Free Guiness and then hung around for a bit, bumping into Steve Who Used To Put Gigs On In Cambridge, which was lovely, said hello to Mr Spoons, and then went and gave Chris a BIG HUG to say thanks for letting me come before disappearing into the night for my TOOB. It really was a lovely evening - I think I could get used to being on the guestlist, it was ace!
posted 13/4/2025 by MJ Hibbett
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