Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine Tour – 1991

November 5th 1991 – De Montfort Hall

Supported by: Senseless Things

I won’t name many people during these blog posts, but this gig could only have been inspired by my very good friend, Dean.

Now music was getting interesting again. I guess one of the many reason I was seeing the same bands year on year was (a) not leaving my comfort zone, and or (b) wasn’t the new music between ’86 and ’88 shite?!?

It was probably more of (a) than (b) and I may have missed some classic tunes along the way…..in fact the greatest thing about music is discovery, whether that is looking back at what you enjoyed or discovering something new that pleases you.

Any young kids out there will discover as time goes by, you start off liking something, you will cherish it and be ridiculously loyal to it and then you will open your mind to all the other stuff you wrote off and the world will be a great place……..oh god, you will still hear some shite, but you will discover that most genres of music are not that far removed from each other and it is actually cool to look at a letter in you collection and how it transcends any one type of music.

I digress……….

Senseless Things

I’d bought “Easy to Smile”, but found out they had been around since 1989….wow! This had a fantastic bass opening which drew me in as it then smashed into a rhythmic noise. superb.

These boys were a full on indie rock band, Mike Myres being the lead singer (I didn’t really pay attention to the band members names).

Some may say this is a wall of noise, I’d disagree (and the same with Carter). Yeah is was loud, brash and heavy on guitar, but this was the middle ground I was after between heavy metal and pop. Really great sound with harsh heavy vocals and a lot of stage movement. The crowd was sweaty and loving it.

Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine

What a band name! What a duo, Jimbob and Fruitbat, or by their real names, Jim Morrison and Les Carter.

This was a real clash of music types, an india rock band with sampling and drum machines……..a fusion of all the styles I was following, all in one place….ouch!! Couldn’t work could it?

You Fat Bastard. No, not you. This was the infamous chant that introduced you the the band coming on stage and was vocally used throughout the gig.

The title came from a chant performed by the crowd at gigs. It originated from MC (and lighting man) Jon “Fat” Beast’s topless on-stage band introductions. He was a friend and absolutely integral to the bands performance and a fantastic warm up act!

Warning – Don’t watch this tribute if you are easily offended :-)x

Back to the music, more loud, brash and yet, tuneful, sounds. Surfin’ USM is a great opening line and as a 26 year old it was quite amusing. :-0

When you’re younger, you can eat what you like, drink what you like, and still climb in to your 26-inch-waist trousers and zip them closed. Then you reach that age- 24, 25- your muscles give up, they wave a little white flag, and without any warning at all, you’re suddenly a fat bastard

Surfing USM

This was always going to be a full on sound. I thought this would b e a band that would be better live, but in reality, it is just different. The record holds up well as a piece of music to listen to at home, but the live gig is more intense and a joint effort from crowd and band.

Not really much let up in the dancing and jumping up and down, “Good Grief Charlie Brown” give a little bit of respite, but even then you end up pogo-ing in intervals. There are regular interjections to the songs of famous quote which give short breath breaks, but even then you end up shouting the words or laughing at the quote.

Possibly the wettest a shirt has been at a De Montfort Hall concert, really fun experience……I give you, Sheriff Fatman (ok – so it’s possibly politically correct, but this isn’t a political blog mate!)

Set List

• Surfin’ USM
• Midnight on the Murder Mile
• Good Grief Charlie Brown
• Rubbish
• My Second to Last Will and Testament
• Re-Educating Rita
• Anytime Anyplace Anywhere
• Say It With Flowers
• A Prince in a Pauper’s Grave
• Sheriff Fatman
• After the Watershed (Early Learning the Hard Way)
• Shoppers’ Paradise
• Billy’s Smart Circus
• Bloodsport for All
• Alternative Alf Garnett
• The 90’s Revival
• This Is How It Feels (Inspiral Carpets cover)
• G.I. Blues
• King Rocker (Generation X cover)