primal scream | birmingham | 1987...or when i decided not to like primal scream anymore

call me a purist.
call me silly.
call me anything you like.
just don't call me a primal scream fan.



it started out so well.
"all fall down" was a GREAT single.
"crystal crescent" was a great single spoiled by RUBBISH production.



but man oh man, by the time i saw them live they'd released "sonic flower groove" and had decided they were going to be the new rolling stones or somesuch*.

bobby had the hair, he had the big spotty shirt, but he had such a wimpy voice.
it was a great voice for the psyche-like jangle of early primals, but he sounded like a tone deaf child by the time they played birmingham.

i was really disappointed.
bobby g could've been one of my greatest heroes but he blew it.

mind you, the gig wasn't all bad.
first on were sea urchins (it might have been their first gig. it was certainly one of the first).
they set up on the dancefloor of the venue and did 3 songs.
they were REALLY untogether.
i loved 'em.

next on, and the 'proper' support band i guess were the jasmine minks.
now then, the jasmine minks really did know how to rock.
and roll.
they seemed like grownups, old men even.
i suppose i was only 17, but that wouldn't have made them much more than 25.
they were the highlight of the night though.

funny the stuff remember isn't it - like the purple vomit at the door of the venue.
dunno why but that always stuck.


*i know that "sonic flower groove" isn't a stonesy album AND i know that the following album, "primal scream" is, but trust me they already had the gibson les pauls and the silly posturing.