Why do Paul Weller and the Gallaghers love having Twisted Wheel support them so much? It only took three nights on their tour bus for Loaded to find out......
Drink has been taken and the Transit van is rocking like an impotent Transformer. The photographer's stout is booted off the table as a young lad hoists himself up to the roof, placing his deck shoes through the skylight. Meanwhile, the merchandise manager is honking his brew up through the open van door. Little silver bags explode white dust everywhere as Gary Glitter's 'Rock and Roll Part Two' is screamed into the Caledonian night. Outside a storm is brewing. Inside a twister has already hit.
Liam and Noel Gallagher may not agree on much these days, but one band they're both championing is Oldham three-piece Twisted Wheel. In kind, the band paid the brothers back when they supported them earlier this year in Milan, by punching the lights out of some locals who were slagging off the Manc rockers. The, 'The Modfather' Paul Weller fell for the trio and booked the lads as support on his current UK tour. Loaded has also been playing Twisted Wheel's self-titled debut on the stereo, with its surprisingly endearing stories of night buses, dancing, drugs and chip pan fires. So much so, we decided to hitch a ride with the boys on a mini-tour of Scotland....
Wednesday, SaddleworthThe landscape is a little eerie in this part of Lancashire. Somewhere out there, 'Moors murderers' Ian Brady and Myra Hindley buried some kids. Twisted Wheel HQ is a converted Victorian mill that's home to their rehersal studio next to a pizza chain and a group of rather notorious 'business men' whom Danny Dyer paid a visit to while filming his Hard Bastards documentary.
Transferring the amps and instruments into the tour van, Twisted Wheel wolf down Monster Munch. Jonny Brown (lead vocals, guitar and songwriter), Adam Clarke (drums), and Rick Lees (bass) all live in the local village of Greenfield. They drink at the Railway pub, eat at Saddleworth Pizza and Jonny resides above the local post office and cafe. There's also a story involving a break-in at his flat by a prominent local carrying an axe. "He said me music was too loud and next thing he's hacking down me door!" he laughs.
The entourage for the next few days is Ant the tour manager and driver, John (CRAIG) the guitar tech, Mark (the merchandise guy) and Jane, who basically plays mother to the lads in return for free tickets and travel. Jonny hangs a load of wet clothes into the baggage rack so Jane can get ironing later. John (Craig) joined the band recently after they realised that their previous guitar tech was deaf. "We honestly had no idea", says the flaxen-haired Rick.
Thursday, Glasgow
We're off to King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, the venue where Creation records boss Alan McGee first spotted Oasis. Having befriended the Gallaghers and toured with them, how did Twisted Wheel find the warring brothers? Jonny munches through a bag of pears, "S'alright, you know, they've been good to us. Liam's the friendlier. He made an effort to talk to us. You see him looking all moody in photographs and the like, but he's a right old laff. When he's pissed, he graps any girl near him. He's like a drunk dad at a wedding" Adan pipes up, "Remember when he pissed in the middle of that pub?. That was MINT! We're touring with Weller after this little mini-tour too, and that will also get our music heard by a few new people. But the Gallaghers are mint and so is Weller" says Jonny.
By the end of this trip Loaded discovers that many things are 'mint' in Twisted's world: Spaghetti 'oops are mint, the new Fruit Pastilles are mint. Even Bruce Forsyth is mint. "He looks like an old lion or a tiger," Jonny observes. Anyone distinctly un-minty? Silence. They all stare at each other "The Pigeon Detectives were dead moody" says Adam.
We pull into a petrol station an hour or so outside Glasgow. As John (CRAIG) the guitar tech browses through porn, thoughts turn to Craig Charles and his legendary service station stop-offs for grot while high on the crack pebble. "Oh god, Craig Charles!" booms Jonny. Everyone bursts out laughing. "He was compering at a festival we played in Jersey. He was sweating like mad, dressed like a cowboy and used his mic like a lasso. He had this box of vinyl called the 'pink trunk of funk'. He kept going up to people and singing "That's the way, ah-ha ah-ha I like it..." Ant the tour manager pipes up from the front. "At night, all I could hear from my hotel bed was Charles knocking on one of the doors in the corridor. "Eh, it;s Craig, Eh, are you awake?" he'd whisper. "Eh, it's Craig......" all fucking night!"
The lads spend the next hour or so hurling bomb bags at each other. For the uninitiated, bomb bags are silver bags of salt and vinegar that explode 20 seconds after they're inflated. The first time you 'recieve' one is quite a shock. And Twisted Wheel are well stocked for this tour.
King Tut's Wah Wah HutHaving wolfed down a Thai meal, the lads hit the bottle. There's a little nose powdering and pacing around the dressing room before going onstage. "When you're playing with bands like Oasis and Kasabian, you get to see them doing the same daft things that you do" says Jonny, pacing furiously back and forth like a dog in a cone hat. "I got to work meself up". The Wheel are tight despite the poor sound tonight, mixing the anthemic melody of Oasis with the streetwise lyrics of fellow three-piece The Jam. The sweat pours down Jonny's head and off his beak like tap. There's a few glitches with the guitar and the crowd start singing the darts theme from Sky Sports. Backstage afterwards, a few Caledonian friends have joined them for a chinwag, while they put onsome clean threads. Then it's off to Fire And Water for a thoroughly good session on the pop again.
Friday, Aberdeen
Its Friday afternoon and the lads can't remember where the venue is. "Tunnels, Its the one underground - there it is" They say pointing at a venue, which is actually a pub called Drummonds. Jonny is reading the Kasabian cover story in the NME. "Eh! They've mentioned that they include socks on their rider, too". As the light fads quicker than a Scottish tan, we pull up to the real Tunnels venue - a cool little venue hidden away in a series of moody caverns.
Tonight is, in Twisted Wheel's words, mint. The sound is great, the crowd responsive, and the beer is cheap. Jonny screeches his way through the set list, and even the barflys at the rear end of the venue are singing along like a rowdy section of terracing: "You stole the sun! You stole the sun! You stole, you stole You stole the sun" while glasses of beer sail through the air.
Sat backstage after - in what is essentially a kitchen storeroom - the door is banging and Jonny lets in two female 'units'. Sitting here with the lads, Loaded feels at home. There's no strops and no egos. When we ask to photograph them on some old rubbish we found down one of the tunnels, they're happy to oblige. "Thats nice" Adam remarks, "Can we shoot you on top of some crap? Ha ha! ". Having spent a couple of days in their company, you can't help like the boys. There's no silly shoes and bizarre haircuts, just three lads dishing out some top tunes.
Equipment all packed, we head to Drummonds where punk legends Sham 69 are playing. The placed is rammed, many of the punters having seen the Wheel earlier. The locals shake the band's hands as they dance to Sham 69 and to the indi/rave DJ set that follows. The DJ whacks Twisted Wheel into the mix, and an embarrassed Jonny disappears into the toilet.
The drinking is ferocious and one casualty has already fallen through a coffee table. Then it's back to the van, for more grog, more toot and a little Gary Glitter singalong. Tomorrow is Dundee, and The View are coming down to watch. Now, The View do love a few sherries.......
Jonny upsidedown in the tourbus during another stint of mayhem
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