The Bastards have been a constant feature of the
Bangkok rock scene for over ten years (with the occasional forays down
to Pattaya to liven up the good folk of Shenanigans). Their live gigs
have always projected raw excitement and energy.
Guitarist/vocalist Keith Goodburn and drummer Nigel
Pike left the Hong Kong music scene in 1990 and moved to Bangkok. Soon
after their arrival they put together a local band as a way of taking
the edge off at the weekends. After a lot of experimentation (Nigel Pike
is a huge Captain Beefheart fan, so as you can imagine a lot of his
wilder ideas had to be curbed), practice sessions, and lineup changes,
the band arrived where they are today, a road hardened hard rock band.
The addition of the very talented Alf Hodges on vocals and lead guitar,
and local bass maniac Khun Prik complete today’s quartet.
Their live appearances reflect the wide range of
influences and tastes within the band, rock, punk, metal, R&B, and
alternative (alternative meaning anything else they fancy playing).
However, they are not just a cover band. As you can hear on this live
recording, they are more than capable of writing their own original
material, which blends in without a hitch with the well selected bunch
of covers the band has taken on. The Bastard’s code of honor, which
has been with the band since day one, is not to play the obvious covers.
So it is with much relief that I can tell you there is no danger of
hearing ‘Hotel ‘Flippin’ California’ at a Bastard’s concert.
The Bastard’s have now played to their strengths
and recorded for posterity their live show at Shenanigans Pattaya,
Friday May 21, 2004. Their CD, nicely called ‘Live and Dangerous’,
is a huge testament to rock ‘n’ roll and generates a burning level
of excitement.
The band kicks off in fine style with the two
greatest teenage anthems from two decades. ‘My Generation’ from the
Who in the sixties, followed by ‘Anarchy In The U.K’ from the Sex
Pistols in the seventies. Keith’s singing is on top form and Alf’s
blistering solos send the crowd into frenzy.
Next up is Khun Prik’s turn to step into the
spotlight as he takes lead vocals on the band’s frantic version of
Loso’s ‘Panthip’. By this time the band has got the crowd eating
out of their hands. It was a good job Shenanigans laid on extra
security, courtesy of Neil Sandilands, to keep the fans from rushing the
stage.
Their confidence thus spurred on the band to storm
into the first of their original songs for the night, a roaring version
of ‘Mobile Phone’, which enthralled the crowd to go equally as wild.
During the night the band played two more original songs that go down
just as well, ‘Go Ask Alice’ and ‘The Jump’.
As there is only room for 77 minutes of music on one
CD, the Bastards don’t let up the pace for one second; even the song
introductions by Keith are jet propelled.
The set is brought to a shattering conclusion by the
last three songs, a vicious version of the Who’s ‘Won’t Get Fooled
Again’, followed by Nigel Pike’s party piece, where Khun Prik takes
over on drums, Keith switches to bass, and Nigel snarls into ‘My
Way’. (Believe it or not, originally a Paul Anka song before Frank
Sinatra got his hands on it. Nigel’s adaptation though has slightly
more to do with the Sid Vicious version, although for most of us it will
be always ‘Nigel’s Way’.) While Nigel is throwing himself around
the front of the stage, the rest of the band just put their heads back
and rock. After this the band is dragged back on stage for an encore of
AC/DC’s ‘Highway to Hell’. The result of which left Shenanigans
roof a good two feet higher than it was. This album should always be
played at 11.
Sadly, this album will be Alf’s swansong to the
Bastards as his career takes him elsewhere in Thailand, making it
geographically impossible for him to carry on. The Bastards’ last gig
together will be at the official launch of ‘Live And Dangerously’.
So, if you would like to be there for a piece of rock ‘n’ roll
history, get down to Shenanigans on Friday 2nd July when the Bastards
will be performing songs from the album for the very last time. The band
will be on stage at 10 p.m., followed by co-headliners at midnight and
also releasing their live album that night, Pop’s Pattaya All Stars
with ‘Dangerously Live’.
The artwork for the album is worth the CD price on
its own, brilliantly put together by Ron Keeley and Jason Payne with the
help of some photos by Wayne Ogonoski and the Mail’s own Brendan
Richards. If you were there for the recording night, you may well find
your name or even photo on the inside sleeve.
The price of the album is 300 baht or 500 baht for
two if you decide to do the logical thing and buy both, Pop’s Pattaya
All Stars CD ‘Dangerously Live’ and the Bastards’ ‘Live and
Dangerous’.
Yet another book from Dean Barrett, hot on the heels of
his Don Quixote in China and Skytrain to Murder. This particular
publication (Village East Books, ISBN 0-9661899-8-1) is actually titled
Murder at the Horny Toad Bar and Other Outrageous Tales of Thailand and is
split into four broad sections - Fiction, Non-Fiction, Harry Boroditski
Private Eye, and Memoirs of an Oversexed Farang, making it more of an
anthology than a novel. Some of the short essays have been published
previously in magazines in Thailand.
Mott’s CD review: The Bastards - Live and Dangerous at Shenanigans
5
Stars *****