Mind the Buzzcocks

Louder Than War is reporting a possible Buzzcocks/Howard Devoto reunion.

Sick City Sometimes: Bomb scare at The Buzzcocks gig

New York's quite a jumpy place at the moment, with every odd car getting a second look. And sometimes a controlled explosion.

Last night, terrorism-jumpiness met punk-revivalism as a Buzzcocks gig was locked down after a 1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera was spotted outside, possibly with gas canisters in the back.

It was alarming for fans at the gig for a while - there was a genuine fear that if people weren't allowed to leave for a couple of hours, The Buzzcocks would be forced to play some of their new songs - but eventually people were allowed to leave by a back door.

Mind out, it's the Buzzcocks

I learned a very long time ago - watching Southern Television's Houseparty, in fact - that you should be leery of meeting your heroes as they seldom live up to your expectations.

Of course, the cookery expert who imparted this advice didn't suggest that you'd wind up having a fight with them, but that happens, too. Paddingtons drummer Grant Dobbs met Pete Shelley at the Skye Music Festival and was shattered when Shelley revealed the main motivation these days for the Buzzcocks is the Greenbacks:

"I can't believe it. Pete Shelley and I had a set-to in the hotel. I wanted to talk about music being his biggest passion, but all he could talk about was making more zeros on his bank account.

"It wasn't what I expected from a legendary punk rocker who is meant to be anti-establishment. I was upset and started to argue with him about it, challenging him in the bar, and asking at what point he sold out.

"I couldn't believe it and things got a bit heated. We ended up having to be separated by other people in our bands.

"Actually Steve Diggle, The Buzzcocks guitarist, came over and told me not to bother with him."

Presumably Diggle said to leave it, he wasn't worth it. Unless they could arrange a pay-per-view revenue stream for the fight.