"Sono nella lista delgi invitati" , so says my note for the box office. Mab are not playing their own set at this special gig, but are making guest appearances during Franco Battiato's evening. In Italy Franco Battiato is big (tomorrow Peter Gabriel plays here).
I am lucky that I thought ahead and have the italian for 'I am on the guestlist written down as the box-office tent does not appear to have any English. Actually they seem quite amused by my note (PJ wrote it for me earlier this afternoon).
For the occasion I have dressed in my aged rockstar look - linen & silk suit with a stripey t-shirt. The invited have a reserved block of seats at stage left, most of them seem to be journalists and their friends. 

The show is due to start at 9, but nothing happens till 9.30. The orchestra is milling around backstage (which is a blocked off area to the left of the stage). The girls are also there and wave to me, which is sweet.

I am not familiar with Franco Battiato's music, but he has a ton of cds out in Italy. He starts with some slow numbers where he sits and sings. After maybe half an hour he introduces Lisa and Marina from Mab, who sing with him on 'Era L'inizio della primavera'. Its so moving my eyes threaten to water.

Some more songs from Battiato, then he brings back Marina and Lisa, and introduces PJ. They join him in singing Ruby Tuesday, the Rolling Stones song from the sixties. For the final chorus PJ's soprano pierces the venetian night and brings a tear to the eye.

 A few more songs from Battiato. All this time everyone has been seated (apart from the occasional drifting smoker) not least because the seats at the front were more expensive, but as Mab (with instruments) join Franco for what is to be "il vuoto" his recent single and title track of his latest album, there is a sudden charge of people to the stage. There seems to be no objection from Security, so I don't know whether it is orchestrated! This is the finale; this is Mab on the big stage; this is Mab in venice; this is wonderful. I'm so glad I came ...

With special guest Lene Lovich

Brilliant Gig! Brilliant Album!

This was the second evening in a row when we went out to see bands, but this time this was Mab... As Voltane had asked us to have an early night and not stay too long at the PLakka gig (so we would not be tired for the Mab gig this evening), we listened to him and were in bed by about 8pm the night before.
At 7pm the day of the Mab gig , a very early Voltane arrived at home so we would all go in the car to get there. (he was planning to get there by coatch but he prefers our company which is nice)
We sat him down and force fed him some wonderful pumpkin and cassoulet beans soup, hoping he would have a huge amount so he would not stop in KFC on the way to the gig as he threatened to do before getting to us.
We departed and half way there Neil decided to stop at the services with a devilish will to visit a shop. Unfortunately there was a KFC on that services and as he saw this, Voltane, who diggests very quickly, and was already starving, went off running and escaped before I could tie him to the car and he headed for KFC... Maybe I should have looked under the table to see if there was a paddle of wonderful cassoulet soup.
Anyway we arrived at the gig without too many problems except for the awful weather , and parked near the venue which was a piece of cake to find. Thanks to Michelin guides.
We ran as quickly as we could to get in (JEremy had put us 3 on the guestlist) and got in this enormous place where big concerts must take place. We looked everywhere but no signs of the rock stars... Very unmotivated, Neil and Voltane went for a drink at the bar whilst I prefered to stay near the reception to look at some very interesting fishes swimming in an aquarium with the builders bum of the female receptionnist showing through the glass.
The concert venue(the inner room) opened and we went in, but still no sign of the girls... I was starting to feel bored, as these kind of venues dont sell any herbal teas and decided to go for a nap in the car, whilst the bands were getting ready.
I came back and nearly ran off as I heard this huge roarring coming from the concert room, it was this band, "...." who were painfully loud and scary. If my Dad had heard this he would have ran miles.Mind, no disrespect but he would have also ran away for Mab too, as anything louder than a chamber orchestra is too loud for him) (but he may have politely glanced at the Origane Fashion dresses that the girls may have been wearing before running off)

The first band came off stage very quickly, there were good for their style of music but not at all anything I would ever like, same goes for Beyonce.
MAb were setting up whilst cheezy 80's music was playing and went on stage at midnight, starting with their normal song and Jeremy wearing the cream and silver O-F dress of the KOKO show. And an armyhelmet on her head which she only took off half way through the show.

We kept being distracted by the sound engineer, a lady who kept going on stage and fiddling with cables and boxes hiden away on top of speakers. But Mab managed anyway to produce a fantastic show, playing 2 new songs (mother fucking magic and their Italian single Adrenalina) and even though I was rather tired and cold I headbanged a bit, but forgot to headbang as I repetidly saw, with amazement, Jeremy's on stage who had developped a charisma and a presence which was so much her. She was charismatic, beautiful and hypnotising.
During the gig,of course there is always the very embarassing moment when the song finishes and people have to clap but nobody does and when Jeremy claps her hands for people to follow , even less people do it, but hey, that is stage and performers have to be aware that most audiences are just very very shy and hate making any noise and be noticed (including myself, oh so embarassing to have to clap arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh )
In fact when the song finishes the room is quieter than when they are playing which is good (as in the audience have noticed that they should be clapping and aren't so are looking at each other, shutting up and with embarassment)
Lucky Wildblanket doesn't have to clap to much in case of dropping his camera.
Anyway MAb and the girls were outstanding that evening and Lisa particularly mad, having small fits on stage and gratting her guitar. Marina, more cool and superb, stood there headbanging in rhythm.
Jessica had some unconvincing spotlights on her but was still very loud and efficient.
We returned to London after having greeted the artists and given some birthday presents to Jeremy whose birthday was in september.
In the car back, Voltane obliged us to listen to some weird music which was very interesting. We did not stop at any services .
O_F

A longed for evening which had been worked on for about 3 month by the artists.
A band called the Texas Chainsaw organised an event in the Dome in Tuffnel Park which was going to be like a Picture Horror show broken by 3 bands playing live.
ON the bill: The Priscillas, Texas Chainsaw, and the beautiful MAB.

It started a bit late(supposed to start at 9 but started nearer to 10) with the Pricillas, 4 girls all dressed in fantastic silver, followed by a bit of the horror show (apparition of the bad Doctor, and the birth of 2 grimlins, who were Simona and Jason, ) and then the texas chainsaw played, aparition of lap dancers for one of their songs who then came back a bit later.
A bit more of the show with the mad doctor being killed on a chair and Simona and Jason taking control of the show, (Simona with her new collar)
A Pop star looking figure who was Sweatbox's lead singer with a blonde curly wig and a cheezy dress mimed to a 70's pop song, and eventually got undressed and started stabbing herself and cutting up her breasts and sewing her kitty together with much blood and rolling on the floor.

Jeremy from Mab then made an apparition on a chair, carried by 4 men up to the stage on their entrance song, and was unwrapped by the Greemlins and undressed from her cream rip-off gown to show her latest dress, a big black satin dress victorian style(or some kind of period style) made by us.
Their set was very short (they were supposed to play a new song and their Italian single) finding many problems along the way like Lisa's guitar stopping to work and Marina's microphone switched off. It was not teh best show for teh girls, and it must have been very frustrating but from the audience, their show was wonderful and they kept so cool with the problems happening, not showing signs of nervousness but keeping on being their charismatic selves.

IT was an expensive show and it was great to see, we would have liked to see more of Mab and less of the first band who went on for very long, and more of the greemlins...

The performance of Jason and Simona was so so outstanding...they were brilliant in their roles and just looked the part whilst staying sexy. A very good evening with many friends, including an appearance from Smatka and Susan Acid frontman and of course VOltane and Swan!

May the lights remain,..,,,.,.,., O-F

That saturday was promising to be a good one.
A last minute dress got finished in time for PSycho jeremy to try and wear that evening, various friends were met and extraordinarilly two very friendly holiday makers, John and Ian, made it last minute coming by train all the way from Guilford to see the show...

In the late afternoon, we had a quick peer into the venue to seeMab doing their soundcheck and visiting the magic "music machine" venue, a beautiful old theatre which gave up acting quite a while ago to become a dancing club.
The venue was big, and the girls ready for that night gig including the habitual pre gig excitement. The corridors of that venueare very interesting.
Clothes shopping in Camden at 7pm being impossible, and after having met by chance Ian and John whowere walking down the street to find a pub,we retired in the Lock Tavern to have a drink with other joyous Camden people, Kyle, Steve, Alex and Daniella who were going to come to the gig afterKyle's leaving party drinks.
9.30, a quick kebab near the station, with John and Ian, competition of "who will drop most of it on the floor whilst looking polite and educated" No way, all of us just did a mess, and thanks for John for the chips.I wasgrandly pleased to knowthat even though they were Americans, they did NOT eat in Mac Donalds andJohn really liked seaweed. Nice to see some normal people out there.
We got in the venue at around 10.30, saw Lisa and Marina at the merchandise stall,and thenwentinto the main room where it was dazzling with atmosphere.
People dressed up mainly in goth (which means the crowds are always quiet between the songs, I suppose GOths are not supposed to make any noise as being from the Dead) and a few heavy metal people too,quite a lot of people in total, dancing chaotically to oldish uninteresting music.
I went off backstage feeling an urgent need to see PJ and the girls and sawX slouched on the sofa, winking away of tiredness and a few of Smoke The Thin Glass Black band members, as well as other people.
It all got very noisy and busy and Lisa had to send people away at some point as their space is important, particularly before a gig, and musicians need a lot of breathing calm time. (it doesn't include me as I am very quiet)
The girls were given a last 5 minutes by the boys who had retired in a pretty lounge downstairs.
May this be too many details about the show, please forget about them straight away, and forgive my indiscretions.
The girls did not go on stage for another 20 minutes after that, and I went back socialising away with all the people who had made the effort to come.
The gig started with Aria (I think) and was stunningly beautiful...The girls were enchanting and captivating, as they usually are. Pj's voice was amazing even though a feeling of getting a cold had been predominant the rest of the day.

Their set was fantastic, lasted about 40 minutes and if any criticism Mab could do with leaving a bit more breathing space between the songs (at least some of them) so that the crowd can absorb them, in their goth silence, as their beauty does somehow get hidden a bit bytheir usualfurious 3 songs in arow without a space.. Mab are the Queens, and alike Queens they need to leave deep silences to give time to people to get lost in their magical presence.
The concert was fantastic, and everybody met up afterwards at the merchandise stall to meet everyone else.
The evening ended on a night bus, with both John and Ian coming back to sleep in the freshly cut grassy garden, having missed their last Guilford train.

It was a fantastic evening and not to forget brave Voltane who spent most of the day flyering away for Mab, possibly chatting up nice ladies to try and get them to come. Well done Voltane!

Sometimes when we have followed Mab out of London we have found decent food difficult to come by; there are 4 McDonalds in Harlow. After a quick drive around (and round and round) we decided the best bet in a deserted town centre was 'Harlow Tandoori'.

Apparently the first band came on stage just as we were ordering, this was not good for the digestion as MAB were playing second. However the food was very good and well priced although I can't remember what we actually ate. We rushedpast the recently shattered telephone box back to the Square, still in time to see the last number from Joan ov Arc. Not really enough time to judge the band, but the audience seemed enthusiastic.

The square is a nice sized venue with a proper stage and proper lights, yet still intimate. N-A

Menu from the tandoori: Lentils baggii, Keema rice with mince lamb, Saag Alhoo, Aubergines, and a mild dish with coconut and almond or somehting similar?
The venue was "interesting" , a 70's or 80's cement building looking slightly like a townhall. When we arrived, there was already a queue of local Youves in little groups coming for their evening of entertainment. Some of them obviously underage, werre very supportive of the first band and a couple came to support Mab, moshing around and nearly knocked several loyal Mab fans, several times. But they were friendly anyway! Some of the crowd seemed puzzled by Mab and just stared, immobile. But Mab do get people to stare at them.
Voltane was present as well as longest Mab s fan Gary, who showed us some nice photos of a previous gig, on paper.
Very good performance from Mab with Jeremy's new dress and Marina's who looked , as usual, fantastic.
The third band was "interesting " and made a brilliant entrance on stage, but I was expecting the drummers and basse player to be women, so as they turned out to be men, I thought they were there for a joke and were going to leave the stage at any minute, but they stayed.
2 blonde ladies who knew their stuff came onstage and did duo vocals. We do wonder if one of them ever worked with us in the City's entertainment places. The corset was beautiful. But somehow...[censored] We shall keep Wildblanket a judgement free place.
Great Mab gig! And a beautiful painting errupted from their van at teh end of the night...As a thank you present for the dresses. Now troning in the bedroom. Bringing its Mab's magic. O-F

Fantastic show by Mab in another big venue. The whole place was buzzing (mostly with Goth lovers and goth bands) and the atmosphere was very good even if the choice of bar drinks was very scarce (like you can either have a pint of Carling or a pint of something else rather as drafts, only, and only 1 choice of mineral water) (very poor)
The stage was getting ready with the help of Stephano and other helpers and fans, and Mab came on, starting with their favourite Aria.
Jeremy was on top of herform and the vocals were outstanding. The crowd didn't know how to react so it was qute quiet between the songs (they probably expected to hear some Goth) and no moshing, but a strong interest, seeing the numer of people who took an interest in the upstairs stand. Unfortunately at that point none of the girls had any of my new dresses, and it made me realise it was quite urgent that Origane Fashion would come to their wardrobe rescue, so they could show up in something which equals their musical and physical beauties.
After the gig was a little gathering upstairs with fans and locals, and Lisa who had a sore throat was given a dose of heavy Echinacea extract which seemed to make her cough. Voltane was bright and volage and as Mab's best fan was faithful to his love.
We carried on after having stayed for Screaming Banshee Air Crew who were good , as the following bands were ratherover Gothfor my (our?) taste. and our stomachs were dying of hunger.

We came out, leaving Mab in there, and went to a lovely ethnic restaurant which didn't look grand from outside but was fantastic. Name to be filled in by Neil as well as address and phone number and details of the menues.

O-F

Wildblanketenjoyed 'Le Sacre Coeur' - 18 Therberton Street, N1 0QX. Have forgotten the menu so may have to visit again to collect this important information for our readers.

N-A

Followed by a showing of the new video

The top of the evening, Mab started a bit late which unfortunately cut their sets short (due to middle band who wouldn't get off the stage)
Brilliant effort from Marina who even though she was very ill made it till the end of the gig.
Excellent performance, the girls are back in shape  , drums and voices working to their best.
Lots of head banging happnened at the front of the  stage, and many people turned out for their gigs.
Many photographers as usual, this band seems to attract them like flies to honey. But soon the headbangers will be more important than the number of photographers and the photographers will not be able to get to the front and they know that, this is why they are all coming now, whilst the head bangers are still in limited numbers...hehehe

 The video followed, on a  fortune screen made with creased white fabric, it was hard to tell what was happening but having seen the video being shot, it was a bit more understandable and it did seem brilliant.           

O-F