"Buffin lost his childlike dreams." -- Ballad of Mott the Hoople (1972)
The Pretenders end a U.S. tour Friday night in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and shortly after that I expect Martin Chambers to begin whatever involvement he's going to have with the MTH reunion shows.
Six months after his role became known, his precise duties remain a mystery.
Another blogger reported in February that Chambers would be drumming on the shows. Chambers confirmed that to me after the Pretenders' show Feb. 27 in Dallas, explaining that the reason is concern about Buffin's health. This came down only about six weeks after the shows were announced, so clearly the band has known all along that Buffin's participation would be dicey.
Still, there has been no official word. Monmouth is just 23 days off. Are we going to have one drummer? Two? Is Chambers still involved? If he is, the band is being disingenuous about the "five original members" performing. On the other hand, they have a Rock N Roll Hall of Fame drummer committed to play but they've made no attempt to trade on his name. If Chambers is on stage it will surprise a lot of people. ("Is that Martin Chambers? Was he in Mott the Hoople?")
Chambers told me that he's been friends with all the MTH members for years, and that Buffin gave him his first drum kit. Of course, he was in The Cheeks with Verden Allen after Allen departed MTH. The fact that the band would turn to Chambers tells me that Allen is doing much of the organizing on this reunion. If it were Ian Hunter's call, the sit-in drummer would be Steve Holley.
I'd hoped this interview on Allen's MySpace page would address this, but it does not. Allen never mentions Chambers. Nor does he mention Buffin. Either the subject was off-limits, or the interviewer just didn't ask.
It's not a big deal. You see extra musicians on stage with bands all the time. Green Day does it. So do the Killers. Still, I'm curious.
I'll be satisfied to see the five original MTH members on stage even if Buffin is unable to drum and Chambers has to. I do think that if they're bringing in an outsider to drum, it invalidates the reasons they've given for not involving Ariel Bender and Morgan Fisher too.
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Great blog John. I'll read the rest later. One of my favourite bands was the Boys (UK 76-81). They decided to do a reunion gig in 99. The drummer, Jack Black, hadn't played since the original split and was physically unable to play a full set. He was supposed to play the first two songs and hand over to someone else but had to call it quits after one. Presumably Buffin hasn't played for 30+ years.
ReplyDeleteGeorge (macdonald on the IH site)
Does anyone know what time the Apollo shows will finish. I thought it would be easy to find this out but I'm struggling. I need to be at Euston for the last train home and don't want to leave before the end.Just an approximate would help. Thanks
ReplyDeleteGeorge: Thanks for the comment. We'll get an idea in Monmouth how much Buff can play. My guess is he can't play at all.
ReplyDeleteIvan: Here is my best guess: Ticket says doors open at 7. That means support is on at 8 and off by 8:45, and MTH starts at 9:30. Based on that, I figure it ends at 11:30.
Thanks John, would be great if they went on earlier and I caught the last train. The alternative is waiting at Euston Station for the 6am. Missing the gig is not an alternative!
ReplyDeleteI love the drummer sound, i feel energizer every time that i listen music where the drummer is notable. i think any band could be sustainable itself without a drummer.
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I've never listened anything of them. But It is nice that they are doing another concert for their late drummer. I hope that Chambers can take his place in the concert.
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