November 23, 2005 11:44

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club play epic one-off gig

Band onstage in London for two hours and 40 minutes

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club treated their fans to a special one off show in London last night (November 22).

The San Francisco band laced a monster two hour and 40-minute set at the Astoria with songs all chosen by their closest supporters over the internet, which mainly consisted of tracks taken from their 2002 self-titled debut album and their recent LP 'Howl'.

The venue was packed to its capacity as guitarist Peter Hayes arrived onstage and joked: "I hope everybody has got a drink and a cigarette because its gonna be a long one", before he launched into an acoustic rendition of 'Devil's Waitin''.

He was eventually joined by bandmates Robert Turner, who was wearing a black cap, Nick Jago and touring bassist/guitarist Spike three songs in as they continued to thrill fans with singles 'Love Burns', 'Spread Your Love', 'Whatever Happened To My Rock And Roll (Punk Song)' and 'Stop'.

Early on in the set Hayes, who was in high spirits throughout the gig, added: "Hey thank you guys for choosing these songs by the way. We're not sure what order we're gonna play 'em but we'll get through 'em all'", before the band treated the crowd to recent album track 'Restless Sinner'.

The show also gave the band the chance to play a couple of rarities to their devoted audience, including 'Screaming Gun' and 'Fail Safe', songs taken from an early EP, which singer Turner admitted "we haven't played in a while".

As the band launched into their famous hit single 'Whatever Happened To My Rock And Roll (Punk Song)', Ash frontman Tim Wheeler was spotted at the bar singing along to the anthem.

The show culminated in a seven-song encore which ended with recent hidden album track 'Open Invitation'.

BRMC played:

'Devils Waitin'
'Fault Line'
'Restless Sinner'
'Shuffle Your Feet'
'Ain't No Easy Way'
'Love Burns'
'White Palms'
'Screaming Gun'
'Whatever Happened To My Rock 'n' Roll (Punk Song)'
'Howl'
'Sympathetic Noose'
'High/Low'
'As Sure As The Sun'
'Weight Of The World'
'Ha Ha High Babe'
'Awake'
'Red Eyes And Tears'
'Six Barrel Shotgun'
'Gospel Song'
'In Like The Rose'
'Rifles'
'Too Real'
'Still Suspicion Holds You Tight'
'Promise'
'Spread Your Love'
'Fail Safe'
'Stop'
'The Line'
'Salvation'