Swill and Paul’s debut gig under the name Preacher Jethro Brimstone & the Watermelon Kid at the Bread & Roses in London on Tuesday October 5 supporting Mick Thomas (from Weddings, Parties, Anything) grabbed instantly the respect of the crowd with songs from their brand new album Baby Fishlips and a couple of Liberty Cage and TMTCH’s materials.    

Leading of with a thundering rendition of "Pieces Of Paradise" from the "Never Born to Follow" album session, the song featured on the CD single "The Eye" (in fact a classic Liberty Cage’s song) Paul & Swill bashed out a pleasing acoustic set unfortunately to short for the enthusiastic audience.

In only 40 minutes due to the curfew they managed to played 3 songs from the recent CD: The Light, Mayday Morning, Barrett’s Privateers and a still hot recording from a busy afternoon session, the Trigger (The Trigger and The Rising Road will be the 2 new tracks to go on the Twah Records release of Baby Fishlips with Mick Thomas doing some guest vocals and guitar on them), 3 TMTCH’s songs (Pieces Of Paradise, To Have And To Hold, in fact this song was written during Liberty Cage’s fruitful career and Going Back To Coventry, a version full of memories for the fans of the band since 1984) and a Liberty Cage favorite Mercy Of The Guards from The Sleep Of The Just record (some fans may have noticed Simon Lomond on the crowd).

The plain catchiness of Paul & Swill’s materials and the acclamation of the audience indicate the duo is ready to promote the album, considering nevertheless this side project will not affect the Men They Couldn’t Hang who will carry on gigging into the new millennium, especially with the release of a new album in a near future.

Philippe "le Bounty Hunter"

Source: Pieces Of Paradise, 12/99

Return