Roger has been interviewed by Vice News, The Guardian, and CBC Radio Canada. He is a retired car mechanic in his 70s with the energy of a 20-year-old, who embarked on an extraordinary journey to experience live music. Notably, he holds a personal record for attending the most consecutive gigs at over 725 nights. He also has a personal record for the most gigs in one night, a staggering 6 gigs at 6 different venues across London on a single evening. With his distinctive ornate military jacket adorned with badges. Roger has become an icon in London's live music scene. This earned him the affectionate name, “The Gig Slut,” from Debbie Smith of the band Blindness. Roger's dedication to live music goes beyond mere attendance. He meticulously plans his evenings, documenting exact timings and schedules for every gig in a book he calls “The Book of Bands.” If there's anyone who embodies the spirit and passion of the Seeing Them Live podcast, it's Roger Mairlot.
Roger Mairlot, a retired car mechanic in his 70s, takes center stage in this episode of Seeing Them Live. Renowned for his passionate dedication to live music, Roger's story has attracted the attention of media giants like Vice News, The Guardian, and CBC Radio Canada. With an astonishing personal record of attending over 725 consecutive gigs and accomplishing the feat of attending six gigs in one night at different venues across London, Roger has become an icon in the city's live music scene. His distinctive ornate military jacket, adorned with badges, has earned him the affectionate name "The Gig Slut" from Debbie Smith of the band Blindness.
Reflecting on his early music experiences, Roger shares memories of a Joan Baez concert in the 1960s, marking the beginning of his journey through London's rich music scene. The cultural and social aspects of live performances are explored, emphasizing the intimate connection between the audience and the artists. Roger's passion for live music goes beyond attendance; he meticulously documents gig timings and schedules in "The Book of Bands," showcasing his dedication to discovering new bands and genres.
The conversation delves into Roger's connection to the Mod Culture, influenced by bands like The Who and The Kinks, and explores his experiences in London's music scene during the 1970s. Notable bands from that era, including Canned Heat and Queen, are mentioned, while Roger reflects on the changing music landscape in the '70s.
Roger's transition to retirement in the early 2000s allowed for greater flexibility in attending gigs, leading to a revival of his interest in live music. Charles and Roger discuss the impact of Mod Culture, Roger's favorite band, The Kinks, and his experiences seeing iconic artists like Jimi Hendrix. Roger's signature look, the guard's jacket, is born out of his paper rounds, which he took on to finance his gigging passion during his early waking hours.
The episode delves into Roger's mad gigging phase, discussing his gigging routine, how he justified spending money on gigs through his paper round earnings, and the development of detailed schedules for nightly gig adventures. The conversation also touches on Roger's extensive guard's jacket collection and the experiences he had wearing them.
In 2014, Roger pushed the limits by attending six gigs in one night, facing challenges in managing multiple venues and early start times. The episode explores Roger's criteria for choosing gigs, post-pandemic changes in the gig scene, and the decline in fan attendance. Despite the challenges, Roger emphasizes the importance of enjoying a gig and shares his diverse taste in music, spanning genres from jazz to chamber rock.
BANDS: Adam Ant, Blindness, Blue Crime, Canned Heat, Color TV, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, Jimmy Hendrix, Joan Baez, Ogunquit, The Breeders, The Kinks, The Libertines, The Palpitations, The Who
VENUES: 100 Club, Camden (general reference to the area), Pure Groove, Rough Trade, Royal Festival Hall, Sculpture of St. James, The Clarendon Hotel, The Dublin Castle, The George Robey, The Hammersmith Odeon, The Hope and Anchor, The Kings Head, The Kursal, The Lock Tavern, The Marquee Club, The Monarch, The Old Blue Last, The Purple Turtle, The Roundhouse.
More information including photos and links available at https://www.SeeingThemLive.com.
[00:00:00] Charles: Welcome to another episode of Seeing Them Live, a podcast featuring memorable concert stories from live music fans. Everyone has a concert story, and hopefully, one day, we'll hear yours. And today, we'll hear Rogers.
[00:00:27] Roger: We were very lucky because, I mean, obviously I should have seen Hendrix around London before that, but two weeks after this, in 1970, September, He was dead.
[00:00:40] Charles: Our guest today is Roger Mairlot. Roger has been interviewed by Vice News, The Guardian, and CBC Radio Canada. He is a retired car mechanic in his 70s with the energy of a 20-year-old, who embarked on an extraordinary journey to experience live music. Notably, he holds a personal record for attending the most consecutive gigs at over 725 nights.
[00:01:07] He also has a personal record for the most gigs in one night, a staggering 6 gigs at 6 different venues across London on a single evening. With his distinctive ornate military jacket adorned with badges. Roger has become an icon in London's live music scene. This earned him the affectionate name, The Gig Slut, from Debbie Smith of the band Blindness.
[00:01:31] Roger's dedication to live music goes beyond mere attendance. He meticulously plans his evenings, documenting exact timings and schedules for every gig in a book he calls The Book of Bands. If there's anyone who embodies the spirit and passion of the Seeing them Live podcast, it's Roger Mairlot. Roger, welcome to the show.
[00:01:54] Roger: Well, thank you.
[00:01:56] Charles: And I'd like to point out too, we're also joined by our producer, Doug Florzak today.
[00:02:02] Doug Florzak: Hi Roger.
[00:02:04] Roger: Alright, Doug, that's fine as well, yep.
[00:02:06] Charles: And Roger, I thought we'd start with a definition. I guess I was kind of struggling at first, or maybe not struggling, but just to clear up a term here, do you, is there a distinction, or do you make a distinction between the term concert versus gig?
[00:02:24] Roger: Not particularly. I used to sort of not like the word gig, but, it's one that people understand. I mean, a concert is a more formal thing to attend rather like a bit of theater, and it all depends on the venue, really, but, the answer is no, I don't really differentiate.
[00:02:40] Charles: Okay, good. And I thought we would go in chronological order here with your life, maybe years before you turned 17. Early on, did you go to any concerts as a youngster? What was the first concert you went to?
[00:02:56] Roger: That's really interesting. I've tried to think back. But, when I often sit on the trains on my journeys, I think about this. And so, yes. I think, technically, the first gig I ever did was in about 1960, by guesswork. I can't find the exact date or year, even, but I think I was coming on to about my 11th birthday.
[00:03:18] And... I went with my mother and a friend of hers to a place in Chiswick. I think it was called the Chiswick Empire. It would have been an old sort of theatre music hall type place. And, I'm pretty sure that I saw someone called Alma Cogan. And she was an early singer, not of any particular great note, but, she was a girl. And the best description is, you can look it up on YouTube and have a listen, but she died quite early, probably in the mid 60s. But, she was called the girl with the laugh in her voice, and it doesn't make a lot of sense till you actually listen, and she had this particular quality.
[00:03:57] That's technically the first one that I went to. But, the one that I would call more of a gig, which is more rock and roll was in 1965 when I was 16. And I went to see a band called The Animals of whom you may have heard. Eric Burden being in, the singer of them.
[00:04:15] Charles: Yes.
[00:04:15] Roger: And there was, there were various people. It was a thing at Richmond, in the town where I lived. And, there was Rod Stewart, The Brian Auger Trinity, featuring Long John Baldry, Julie Driscoll, and Rod Stewart of all people. And another band, they've got an American sounding name called Jimmy James and the Vagabonds. That was 1965 and that's really the first rock and roll gig that I went to.
[00:04:43] Charles: Okay. Did, did you go to other concerts with your mom or other gigs early on?
[00:04:48] Roger: No, I never went anywhere like that with my mom because that was becoming uncool, you know?
[00:04:53] Charles: It's funny, my mom, when I was 11 took me to my first concert to see the Eagles and then once my friends and I got old enough to drive, we went on our own. And in 66, from the articles we've been reading and such, the interviews you've given, what struck me, and correct me if I'm wrong with some of these dates, but, is that when you got the Lambretta scooter?
[00:05:16] Roger: Yes, I was still at school. I think it was about 1966. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's it. I mean, I've even got some older documents of when I bought the thing, but it was just about that day. Yeah, I was still at school. I left in 66 and yes, we were on scooters.
[00:05:33] Charles: Okay, because what struck me about that, as you probably know on the Who's Quadrophenia album.
[00:05:39] Roger: Yep.
[00:05:39] Charles: There's a guy who's, I don't know, maybe 17 years old pictured on the album, and he's on a Lambretta scooter. And, he's considered or part of this mod culture, which was the album, even though it was recorded in 73 tells a story from 1965. Exactly. So, did you identify with that mod culture?
[00:06:03] Roger: Oh yeah, because The Who, I was starting to listen to records and people like The Beatles and The Kinks were turning up and The Who were an immediate band that you would look at, and I'm not sure they started off that way, but they got on the mod bandwagon, in which they manipulated their image to fit in with the mod style, and it worked very well. I'm not sure they rode scooters, but they were part of the culture of 66, you know, when it was swinging London.
[00:06:34] And the clothes were the thing, because they were wearing the latest clothing. And it made a big difference when you were young because, you know, clothing starts to have an importance in your life. Whereas before you just didn't care too much what you wore.
[00:06:50] Charles: Right.
[00:06:50] Roger: But later you were trying to dress to impress.
[00:06:53] Charles: Yes, you even had the coat, the parka, you referred to it as a parka?
[00:06:58] Roger: Yes, the funny thing is, just like they referred to in the Who's songs from Quadrophenia, it was ex U.S. Army stuff because the British Army didn't use them. But they were parkas from the Korean War or it was too early for Vietnam, well, maybe not Vietnam started early, didn't it? But, yeah, they were U. S. Army surplus things, you know.
[00:07:19] Charles: Interesting.
[00:07:20] Roger: And, I don't know how it came about, but we just used to badge them up with anything we could get a hold of, you know.
[00:07:27] Charles: Yeah, little patches, and pins, and badges, and such.
[00:07:30] Roger: Exactly, yeah, yeah, yeah. Stuff that wasn't relevant at all, but you could mix up Army, Navy. Anything just to decorate the things, you know.
[00:07:41] Charles: Yeah, and you, you mentioned The Kinks.
[00:07:45] Roger: Yeah.
[00:07:45] Charles: And, that's your, favorite, one of your favorite bands.
[00:07:48] Roger: Favorite band of all time, yes.
[00:07:50] Charles: Okay.
[00:07:50] Roger: Because, being a Londoner, they, they came from London and they embodied, in their songs, all the things about London at the time: the sunny afternoon, dedicated follower of fashion, that particularly was sort of taking fun at the mod sort of thing, although they were part of it, really. They weren't necessarily mods, but they certainly wore the latest clothing.
[00:08:14] Charles: Yeah, cause sunny afternoon, that was 1966, as you mentioned.
[00:08:18] Roger: I remember it was sunny weather. We had the scooters. It seemed to be a good summer.
[00:08:23] Charles: Yeah. And then was it around that time or a little later, I guess maybe I'd read in some interviews, you kind of lament the fact that you'd never seen Pink Floyd live and I was wondering, if that was a old thing that's or modern thing or...
[00:08:37] Roger: Well, what happened is that you knew the things were going on, but you couldn't quite find out where. And also, I don't know why, I suppose it was a lack of confidence, but I had to persuade other people that they wanted to go 'cause I really didn't want to go on my own. I mean, the places would have been strange to me, even though they were in London, they were bits of London. But really, I've only just discovered now. And, back then, 50, 60 years ago, it would have been a bit of a adventure for me to get to. And somehow, I didn't grasp it.
[00:09:09] And so, yes, I regret not seeing the early Pink Floyd as opposed to the later version. But nevertheless, I was disappointed, but I still saw some pretty good bands in those days. I still managed to see for example, Creme in '68, in a funny little town near here, near the airport.
[00:09:30] It was a venue above a shopping center. And I particularly remember that one and who else was there we saw? Oh yeah, yeah, an American band called, what were they called? The name will come to me later, perhaps. But it was an American band who had the first sort of blues single to get into the British charts, which was pretty interesting.
[00:09:50] Also, I saw the original Fleetwood Mac. And The Who at that time as well. So, I didn't completely miss out, but I didn't get to see as many as I should have done.
[00:10:01] Charles: Yeah, and I think when you're younger, it is harder. You're more self-conscious to go to a concert by yourself.
[00:10:08] Roger: Yeah, probably.
[00:10:09] Charles: You know, you like to have your friends with and such.
[00:10:13] Roger: Yeah, I don't think the youth then were quite so outgoing. And so, to be a 17-year-old amongst a bunch of 19, 20 years olds, it was a bit of a difference. You did feel, not that you shouldn't have been there, but you sort of felt, yeah, you had to know your place almost, in a hierarchy.
[00:10:32] Charles: I wanted to now maybe move to 1972 if that's okay.
[00:10:38] Roger: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:10:38] Charles: You're like 23, and that's when you become a certified mechanic. Is that correct?
[00:10:45] Roger: Almost, yeah. I'd worked as a travel agent before then, because someone thought it was a good idea, and jobs weren't that easy to come by. And I did some retraining. Yes, I did a training course, I did a thing called City and Guilds, which is sort of recognized trading thing.
[00:11:02] But, I was pretty good, I got good grades. But it was still difficult to get a job because no one was willing to pay you, and yet, you had to practice and learn on the job, and it was quite difficult. But yes, it was roughly then that I went into mechanical work.
[00:11:17] Charles: Okay, and at that time too, you also attended some gigs with your wife, and I was just wondering how often did you guys do that?
[00:11:27] Roger: Well, I didn't meet her till the sort of late 70s, but, in the 70s, there were some interesting gigs that popped up. On a Sunday afternoon you'd go for a few beers and later in the afternoon you'd go down to a place called Han, which is near Richmond again, on the river, and it's quite historic.
[00:11:45] And there's a polo ground there, you know, where they play horse polo, where you get these guys riding polo using these funny sticks with...
[00:11:55] Charles: Mallets, or, yeah, I don't know the technical term for a polo mallet, but yeah.
[00:12:01] Roger: Yeah, that's it, yeah. And so, we're doing that, and we're there as the plebs going in to tread in after the horses are have kicked up bits of soil, and one of the polo players is none other than Ginger Baker.
[00:12:14] Charles: Oh, my goodness.
[00:12:15] Roger: Yeah, which was really quite a good surprise. And what happened is after the match, he proceeded to play a gig with, at that point it was a Baker Gurvitz Army. You heard of those?
[00:12:28] Charles: I have not, Roger. No.
[00:12:31] Roger: Well, don't worry. It's Ginger Baker. Eric Clapton went on to do various things from Cream. And Ginger Baker was the one who was always very talented. As a drummer, you don't have the input to make a big band. But he did this thing. They were two brothers. One of them was called Adrian and Gurvitz and he joined up with them and, for a while, they were a band. Later Ginger Baker had had a thing called Ginger Baker's Air Force, whom I didn't see. But yeah, that was a good little surprise gig.
[00:13:03] And then, what else did we see in the seventies? Well, in the early seventies. There'd been a thing on the Isle of Wight, a festival, and some friends of mine did go to that, and we went. And we saw bands like The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Who again, Moody Blues, and so, that was quite a successful outing.
[00:13:25] And, we were very lucky because, I mean, obviously I should have seen Hendricks around London before that, but two weeks after this, in 1970, September, he was dead. So that was possibly his last public performance, but I did get to see him, yeah.
[00:13:43] Charles: Wow. Also, from what I was reading in previous interviews, as life developed, so to speak, the ability to go to see live music kind of took a back seat and I was just wondering if it was like a gradual kind of decline of you not being able to go to gigs.
[00:14:02] Roger: Well, it is really, because again, it's people to go with, and the gigs by then were becoming stadium rock. You know, really sort of big things, and I wasn't really so keen on them. And so, I don't know what happens but, I suppose work becomes a bit harder at times and you, so some reason. I don't think the bands were quite as interesting by the 70s really, not for me.
[00:14:25] There were a few bands that I liked that were popping up. But I mean there was a band called Japan that I liked. And there was a band called Yes and we did get to see Yes down in, where was it? Crystal Palace Bowl. That was in '71 we saw them. I did make a note of that one.
[00:14:44] And also, yeah, in the 70s, we did get to see Queen. They did an open-air thing in Hyde Park in London, and that was in '76. But really, that's the run of the big bands that I saw.
[00:14:57] Charles: Okay. We want to fast forward, perhaps, if that's okay, to 2004, maybe? Was that when you retired?
[00:15:07] Roger: Well, retirement gradually happened to me because, at that point, I was working from home and so I could choose my hours and, when I was a mechanic, I tended to work on older cars and when I say old, I mean cars that were last made in the 70s and that they're a thing called a Morris Minor and, they were cars that I was working on my own and you could... All the things, there were no computer bits to it.
[00:15:34] All the things were purely mechanical and you could do it as a one man band, you know, just one person working on your own. And so I could choose my hours and gradually these cars, there were less and less of them on the road. And so gradually, work got less and less and I had a bit more free time.
[00:15:53] And, we did consistently go to see either the Kinks or Ray Davis. If I ever heard of them playing, I would jump on it and get tickets. So, more or less every decade until the 90s, we would manage to see either the Kinks and or Ray Davis at some event.
[00:16:12] Charles: Right. Yeah, I actually saw the Kinks in 1984 at the school I was attending, and it was one of the first times I had really good seats. So, it was quite entertaining.
[00:16:24] Roger: Yeah, that was an interesting period when, I think I saw them in the 80s, and they were bringing out albums like Give the People What They Want, and they had that hit done Come Dancing.
[00:16:35] Charles: Mm hmm.
[00:16:35] Roger: That was one of their hits at that time. They had some albums that were very American in style, American rock. And I think for them, especially, he still wrote brilliant lyrics. For me, they were good albums to have. And, they've always been a band I like. I've probably got, not every album they've ever made, but I've got about 35 of them.
[00:16:55] It came to me that the band that I saw, the American band I saw early on in, probably about 68 in Richmond where I lived, was a band called Canned Heat. And they were big at the time. I don't know what happened to them afterwards, but they had a number one hit in the UK.
[00:17:16] Charles: Yeah, I don't know the exact name of the song, but I enjoy the songs they sing.
[00:17:20] Roger: Yeah, "going out on the road again."
[00:17:21] Charles: Or "going up to the country." I don't know if that's the name of the song, the title, but I like that song.
[00:17:28] Roger: Part of the lyric, yeah, yeah.
[00:17:30] Doug Florzak: I was going to add here that they also did Let's Work Together.
[00:17:34] Charles: Oh, right, Doug.
[00:17:35] Doug Florzak: Because my band does that.
[00:17:36] Charles: Oh, okay.
[00:17:37] Doug Florzak: Wrought Iron Soul performs Let's Work Together a lot, so. And we always talk about how Canned Heat was sterno that you use to heat up food. That kind of thing.
[00:17:48] Roger: Yeah, yeah.
[00:17:48] Charles: All right, so Roger, we're going to get into, correct me if I'm wrong here, where you again, kind of ascend to seeing lots of bands with, I want to say was the gateway concert, when you see Joan Baez. Kind of a chance occurrence.
[00:18:09] Roger: It was, cause, I'd met these people, we'd gone on a day out, my family and my mother and my brother, we'd gone on a day out into London to see the thing called the Thames Barrier. It's this, it was enormous at the time, and, it's still a feat of engineering.
[00:18:26] The Thames being tidal, some of the tides were getting higher. And there was a risk of flooding, and so, they built this barrier to be raised when the tides were particularly bad, and anyway, it's a sort of tourist site. So, we went there, because often, you know, as I'm sure you do, you don't always see the things in your hometown. You take them for granted and never bother to go and visit them.
[00:18:49] Charles: Right.
[00:18:49] Roger: We did this time. So anyway, I met a couple of people there, one was in a wheelchair and one was the carer, or friend, and, I was chatting to them. My family got fed up, because, I do start to talk a bit. And so, I stayed on and went home later, and I had a chat with these people, and we were talking about, gigs and whatever.
[00:19:09] And, they said, "Oh, we're gonna see Joan Baez pretty soon." And they said, "Why don't you come along?" So, they lived in about as far northeast of London as I am southwest. But the agreement was that I'd travel over there and go with them, and the gig wasn't in London, it was in Southend. And so I thought, yeah, okay, I went for it, and I looked it all up, and I was pretty sure I'd be late back, because you've got to get back from Southend, and then I had to get home again.
[00:19:41] And, they've got this thing in London called night buses, and they run all through the night. And I looked it all up, and yes, I could get back by night bus. And so, I went with them, and I think it's called the Pavilion Theatre or something in Southend, and I gave you the date, I know somehow, I haven't got the date in front of me, funnily enough.
[00:20:02] But yeah, I went with them, and subsequently, this girl looked up gigs and I would go with them to other gigs. And that brought me back into thinking, yeah, there's, there's some good stuff going on, and it's quite accessible. And that brought me back into doing gigging.
This is the transcript for second part of the interview for the podcast seeing them live. Please provide a list of internet and social media friendly keywords for this part of the podcast. Here is the transcript:
[00:20:20] Charles: Yeah, that was around 2004. Is this also when, I was reading that you we're kind of experiencing bouts of insomnia as well?
[00:20:31] Roger: Yes, I was. I'm surprised it doesn't happen to more people, but, I was getting to the point where I was waking up early. I don't know, we've all got a lot going on in our heads. And, I went to the doctor and, he reckoned it was depression, and so I was given tablets and at that time, because I was waking up early and my son didn't want to do it, I found out there were people doing paper deliveries, we call them paper rounds.
[00:20:57] And, you could deliver daily newspapers. And I did it when I was a kid, and I thought, "Well, my son doesn't want to do it. I'm waking up early. I'll do it." So, I ended up doing paper rounds that paid quite well. And I ended up doing four or five a day. They were very easy. Except for Saturdays and Sundays when they were heavier additions.
[00:21:17] But I ended up doing that and I picked up probably 60 pounds a week from this. And I thought, well, that's gonna pay for the gigging. You know, no guilt. I'm using time that I would be tossing and turning in bed, and I'd get up and do a paper round, and keep fit at the same time.
[00:21:36] Charles: Right, yeah, so that financed what would become your mad gigging phase.
[00:21:41] Roger: Yeah, I didn't have to justify throwing money away because, I was earning it as an extra, so, seemed a good idea.
[00:21:47] Charles: Right, it's a... Go ahead, sorry Roger.
[00:21:50] Roger: Yeah, like I say, I was realizing that there were bands out there and good little venues that were really interesting and fun to go to and so, that's what I did.
[00:22:01] Charles: And is this the time you purchased your guard's jacket like your signature look apparently?
[00:22:07] Roger: Well, what happened there is that I got to see various bands, and there was one band, and they called themselves Mods, or one of the guys did, in it. I think, what were they called? The Palpitations.
[00:22:18] And I thought, this guy should be wearing a smart jacket. You know, one of the jackets from the 60s. Military jackets have always been sort of fairly in fashion because of people like Adam Ant, the Libertines, the Who did it, the Kinks, sort of. They had their own specific hunting jackets.
[00:22:38] And I thought this guy ought to have one. So, I've had one from the 60s. But I didn't get to that one. What happened is I went to a market near me and I saw this red jacket, like a guard's jacket. And so, I bought it and I took it along to the guy. Turns out he didn't like it, so... So I thought, blow it, I'm gonna wear it myself.
[00:23:01] Charles: Yeah.
[00:23:01] Roger: And it felt a bit... Sort of odd for a then 60, must have been going on 60 at that point, 50 to 55, 60. I felt a bit odd, but you know, I felt a bit self-conscious about it initially, but you soon get used to it. And in London, people don't take a huge amount of notice of strange wearings. You know, people wearing strange things. It's all sorts of stuff going on. And most people were complimentary about it, you know.
[00:23:30] Charles: Yeah, I'm sure there's way more strange clothing being worn in public then a guard's jacket.
[00:23:37] Roger: Yes, certainly. After Halloween, which has just been through here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. With the blood streaked all over the faces and whatever.
[00:23:46] And then gradually what happened though, I kept going to this market cause it's on twice a month and they do antiques, but it's really what we call house clearance. When someone dies, dealers go in and take the stuff and they go to this market, which is about three miles down the road.
[00:24:00] And I then picked up a couple of jackets that were from an airways firm. So, they had rings on the sleeves, they were double breasted, quite smart things. And there were two of those for ten pounds. So, I thought, okay, yeah, let's go for it. So, I bought the two. I gave one away to a singer I'd got to know.
[00:24:20] And when I jumped on a bus, the first thing the driver said to me was, "Heathrow?" He thought I wanted to go to Heathrow Airport. So, I said, "no, not quite," but anyway, that was the start of it. And gradually, every time I went, there was some sort of different jacket to get. And you know, there's naval ones, there's air force ones, there's all sorts. And they're great fun to wear.
[00:24:43] Charles: You have, like, 25 of them or something, right?
[00:24:46] Roger: Yeah, yeah, it's a bug. But they're not expensive, really.
[00:24:51] Charles: I'm thinking like right around 2008.
[00:24:55] Roger: Yeah.
[00:24:55] Charles: This is the year you start going to one gig a day, is that correct?
[00:25:00] Roger: It was getting on for that. It was building up. And, what also happened then, I think you've probably seen photos of them, but, it became so complicated I had to write it all down on a piece of paper, so I knew what I was doing that week.
[00:25:13] And I started calling those the lists. And so, I've got a pile of lists from 2008 that looks from here, where I can see them, to about five inches thick of single pieces. What we call foolscap pieces of paper with these lists written on. So I've, I've kept them all.
[00:25:31] Charles: Okay, yeah, because I've seen pictures of your handwritten lists. They look a little larger than your standard piece of notebook paper, but maybe they're around that size.
[00:25:43] Roger: I've kept them all because people say, oh, you should keep them, you know, so, as it happens, I have.
[00:25:48] Charles: Yeah. And so, like in 2014 this is kind of when you start this extreme gigging.
[00:25:55] Roger: Yeah.
[00:25:55] Charles: Can you talk about that a little bit?
[00:25:58] Roger: Well, what happens is I write down all the, there's a thing called Songkick, which you can use. And if you want to see a band, you put their name in, and as long as the band do their side of it, and put their name in, and say where and when they're playing, you get sent an email as to when it's happening.
[00:26:16] And so I'll get all this stuff coming in on email. And plus, you pick up stuff off Facebook and you write it all down. And so consequently, in the early days, when gigs are far fewer now, but in the pre-pandemic, you would find there were about 10 different gigs a night. And so, you try to choose the one you thought you were going to enjoy more.
[00:26:40] And by that, I mean, I would choose bands that I'd not seen especially if they were from the USA, South America, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, because these were bands that were coming over doing a tour. And to be quite honest, you might never see them again. Whereas if it was a London band, you would downgrade them and say, okay, I can see them again.
[00:27:06] They're London. I can see them probably in a few weeks. And so you have to downgrade it. And then what you do then, you try to work out, using Facebook and other means, you would try to find out when they were actually playing, what time, and so, I got to know the underground and the transport system pretty well, and it's actually a fairly good system on the whole. You would work out a route and think, well I can do this one first.
[00:27:31] I mean there was one place in London, that has since had to shut down, but it was called Pure Groove. And they would do a gig about, I don't know if it was 6:30 or 7 in the evening. So, you could see a band there, move on, and see at least three or four other places if the route would work out and the times work out. And so, you would have a little plan in your mind with this list, and you would set out and attempt it.
[00:27:58] And sometimes it worked and often it would break down because timings of bands are absolutely terrible at times, you know. I don't know if you've experienced it, but there was something, it's really weird. But there are some musicians who actually seem to do anything but play. I mean, I've been in a venue and I've said, "Oh, you're playing tonight, aren't you?" And they said, "Yeah, in about ten minutes." You wait ten minutes and they were still in a corner chatting. No intention of playing.
[00:28:27] Doug Florzak: Sounds typical.
[00:28:28] Roger: And I always joke that bands, obviously you need a sense of timing to play music, but they've got a different sense of clock timing.
[00:28:35] And the venues don't have clocks in them, like a hospital, the venues don't have clocks in them. It's deliberate, so you don't know what the hell the time is. But, obviously, for me, a watch is a crucial tool of my trade, you know.
[00:28:49] Doug Florzak: So, do you say to them, "Hey, I'm on a schedule. You need to get started?"
[00:28:52] Roger: Well, I can tell you Doug, I've walked in a place in Shoreditch, which is a venue well known for it's got a bit less, but at one time there were six different venues that you can walk to within 10 minutes and I went in this place, the old Blue Last, that's where the Vice magazine they owned it at one point, I think.
[00:29:13] And I went upstairs, and the band were there, and it was about 8:30, and they were meant to be playing. They were on stage, but I walked in expectantly, and they said, "Sorry, Roger, we've been put back." So, I didn't even stop walking, I just turned around and went straight out. I mean, the band was disappointed, but, you know, I've got a schedule, and obviously I don't know what was following, but I wasn't prepared to lose what was following. And it's very hard, but that's what I did.
[00:29:42] Doug Florzak: So, Roger, when a band does go out on time, do you stay for the entire set, or do you just listen to a few songs? How do you decide how much of their performance that you're gonna stay at?
[00:29:57] Roger: Well, what it is, is if I've seen them before, and I think, yeah, this is not fitting in with me too well. I need to get a move on. And again, if they're London based and I've seen them a few times before, I think, okay, it's a shame, but I'm going to move on. If it's a band from America, as I say, the usual, if it's what I call quite rare, I would think, okay, I'm going to stay. It's good. I'm enjoying it. No reason not to. I stay.
[00:30:24] And then I follow up. I mean, sometimes I think, well, I'm not going to get to the next ones. I'll just cut and go, you know, that's it. I've, I've done okay. And so, you judge it on how you enjoy it. And even if it's late at night. I generally think if you're enjoying it, you stay till the bitter end, even if it means you miss the last train and you've got to get on a night bus.
[00:30:47] As I say, you might never see these bands again, so I would stay. And so, that's really how it works. If I find them a bit ordinary, I'll move on. I think, okay, it's an experience. I've got a rough idea of what they sound like. I go on and do whatever I can next. But, as I say, at the moment, post pandemic, it's just not got back to what it was.
[00:31:10] I mean, I'm not even getting out every night at the moment because, I won't go to a band unless I think I'm going to enjoy it. And I'm not going to go to just about anything. I try to have a standard. And I'm prepared to take chances, but if I look at it and think, yeah, this really is not worth the trouble, then unfortunately I have to stay in.
[00:31:32] Charles: Yeah Roger, I was going to ask, aside from the fans, you had mentioned there's a shortage of fans and that maybe pre-COVID there were more fans than there are now. But I was thinking, you kind of compress time because you see more bands in a week, quite honestly, than most people see maybe in an entire year.
[00:31:53] Do you see any other trends other than the fan base maybe has dropped off?
[00:31:59] Roger: Certain bands are very, very popular. Electronic music seems to be becoming more and more popular, but quite honestly, I don't find it that interesting. The best I think is for the traditional two guitars and drums or three guitars.
[00:32:14] Charles: Then, I want to just come back to 2014 when you did, I think the six gigs in one night.
[00:32:22] Roger: Yeah.
[00:32:22] Charles: Did that surprise you, Roger, or were you trying to say, well, you know, the other night I went to three, now I'm going to go to four, and, when can I do six?
[00:32:34] Roger: I've always got the ambition. I mean, I've been with people and they say, they'll never still be playing. I'm saying, I'm going to go and try, you know.
[00:32:41] I try never to give up. Occasionally you do think, oh, I'm just going to give up. It's a wet, cold night. But you set out with the ambition, but not fully expecting it to happen. It's a small miracle that it happened.
[00:32:54] Because, well, there used to be this place, like I said, Pure Groove, or there's another one called Rough Trade. And they used to play early, at seven. And, therefore, you'd get a head start. You could get one band in by half past seven. And then move on.
[00:33:10] You need a bit of luck. To be quite honest, I'm trusting that person who looked it all up, but there was another time when I managed to do five in one night, and they're fairly exceptional, to be honest. You can't do that on a regular basis, but, now I'm lucky to get two in in one night. That's how it is, you know.
[00:33:28] Charles: Yeah, I would imagine, with transportation issues, the bands going on when they're supposed to go on, that gets to be challenging to, to get anywhere near five or six.
[00:33:38] Roger: Yeah, I mean, if we go from 2008 to now, that's 15 years. And so there's two exceptional runs of good luck in 15 years.
[00:33:48] But there's no reason not to go and try. And again, you sort of have to clarify it and think, yeah, you know, it's time to call a halt to it. You know, I've seen five and it's good enough. The ambition is there, but it's certainly not happening post pandemic, not at all.
[00:34:03] When I was a kid, you'd read about places where the rock stars would go. You'd read about their exploits, you know. And there was a place in town where the Kinks, Dave Davis, who was a wild man then and the Who's, Keith Moon, used to go for drinks. It was called the Sculpture of St. James.
[00:34:22] And I was very pleased one time, I've been to a couple of gigs a couple of times there, and so it was free, but you had to be on a guest list, so that was easy enough. So, I got myself on this list, and I went along there, and I was chatting outside, and somehow, I met the manager of the place, or whatever. So, I went in with this guy. And, without me knowing it, this guy called Peter Dysart, who, he will listen to this at some point, because I've told him. But he was over in England, from Chicago, I think is where he lives. So, he came along and I didn't know he was coming.
[00:34:58] So, he came along and then he turned up inside and he said, "Oh, I saw where you were going," 'cause you can look at people's events on Facebook. And, he said, "I just mentioned your name, and I got in." So, he was, I suppose, impressed that mentioning my name, got him in. But what happened, I worked out was my name was still on the guest list because I'd gone in with the manager.
[00:35:20] And so, he just mentioned my name, and they thought that he was Roger Mairlot, and so, I thought, well, no argument, fine. And so, he got in, and I thought that was just brilliant. You know, kudos to me for having the power of my name. Sometimes people would just spit at the sound of my name, but most people like it.
[00:35:41] And there's another little story. In my time, having been a mechanic and you lift, I'm not a big, huge bloke, but you end up lifting gearboxes and engines, and sooner or later, and I did a bit of furniture removals with a friend of mine. And sooner or later it takes its toll on you and you end up having a hernia.
[00:35:59] So, I've had two hernias done in my time. I wasn't impressed with the first one because the surgeon who did the job had a hole in his sock. And I thought, if he's got a hole in his sock, how do I know he's going to sew me up properly?
[00:36:11] Charles: Yeah, that's not a good sign. No, that's, that's bad.
[00:36:14] Roger: I didn't think so. It didn't last, because I had one done in 2004 and by 2016, it had gone again. Anyway, this time, I'd had a hernia done, and it seems okay so far. And, I'd had the op, and I think I was out a day or two later, because I was still quite determined. And so just by hobbling along, I could manage. It wasn't a terrible wound.
[00:36:38] And I went to this gig, and a band called Ogunquit were playing, whom I know. And, they've got a great thing of interacting with the audience. And so, this singer, Tina, comes out, and so she's crawling between people's legs doing the singing routine. So, of course, I've had my hernia, but I have to stretch my legs so that she can crawl underneath it.
[00:36:59] She wasn't to know, but I managed and I survived. And she's great. They're a good band. She hula hoops and plays trumpet on stage. A sight to be seen.
[00:37:10] Charles: Of all nights to have somebody crawl under your legs, right Roger?
[00:37:13] Roger: Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're okay. They're sort of garage rock. They're good.
[00:37:19] And, there's one other thing. There was a place called the Lock Tavern in Camden, which used to be a really good place for venues. And, it was a tiny room unsuited for bands, but there have been bands in there from America, that I've never seen anywhere else.
[00:37:34] And there was a photographer there, I think she was Spanish, but she was so heavily built, and she was so not caring about how she pushed in front of, that we called her the Sherman Tank. And ‘cause she would just trundle along on her tracks, and not care who she moved out of the way. And that's just someone we gave a nickname to, because, there are a few characters around on the scene, as you know. I presume you've got them there, of course.
[00:37:59] Charles: Yeah, you also were given a nickname by Debbie Smith from the band Blindness.
[00:38:06] Roger: Yep.
[00:38:06] Charles: So, might be quite common, to get nicknames for people. You say you see regulars doing the same thing you're doing? Do they also get nicknames, so to speak?
[00:38:17] Roger: Well, there's a guy, called John Marshall, he's a punk, but he will go to a great variety of gigs that aren't necessarily punk related, although that's his favorite. And, there's a few other people I know, there's a few photographers who you see regularly.
[00:38:34] And yeah, so when you go on your own, it's very odd if you don't come across someone else who knows you, comes up and says, oh, "Hi, I've seen you around and blah, blah, blah, you know, what gigs do you go to?"
[00:38:43] Charles: Well, and you're fairly famous in those circles now, right, Roger? I mean, you've had quite a few articles written about you. I've seen a YouTube video interview and you've got the jacket on, you're probably pretty recognizable by most people, even if they're not regulars.
[00:39:04] Roger: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Easily.
[00:39:06] Charles: Yeah. And I think you give live music fans inspiration, myself included. When you're retired, you can go out and do this. Same kind of thing you're doing, and kind of opens up a whole new chapter in your life, so to speak.
[00:39:22] Roger: It does. I remember, I was 17, I worked in an office. And people were turning 21, and they do the thing about, you know, big celebration, 21. And I'm thinking, 21? That's old. And look at me now. You know, it's crazy.
[00:39:35] Charles: Yeah.
[00:39:36] Roger: I just had no idea I was gonna do this. When I started, back at that time with, Joan Baez, I had no idea what it would lead to and, that's what's good about it. You know, it wasn't planned. By the way, I don't just try to knock up gigs just for the sake of it.
[00:39:51] Like I say, I would always try to go to see something that I thought I had a good chance of enjoying. I'm not going just for anything. Cause, to be quite honest, there's a lot of annoying things about gigs nowadays with people seem to go to them to talk all through it and it's just horrible.
[00:40:07] Most sets over here are 30 minutes. Some of the bands that come over, yeah, they play an hour, which is good. But yeah, I've been at one gig where, it was quite a noisy band, and two guys were having a shouting conversation. So, they said to me at the end, "Well, did you enjoy it?" So I said, well, yeah, but, the music seemed to be interrupting your shouting. I'm lucky that I didn't get my head punched in, but I think you have to say what you feel within reason.
[00:40:33] Charles: Yeah.
[00:40:34] Roger: I've been at a gig where I've seen quite a big band, and I thought, well, they're highly rated, but I'm not enjoying it. I think one night I was seeing this band; I think they're called The Breeders, some old band, and, I thought I'd go and see what it's all about.
[00:40:47] Not enjoying it, I had to fight my way through because all the crowd are hunched up, you're tripping over bags, treading on feet, because you're doing the very thing that they don't understand. You're leaving while the headline act is on. I've seen the support act.
[00:41:02] And I went down the road, it was in Camden. I went up the road to the Lock Tavern, and I saw another little band that I knew, and I enjoyed it much more. And, you've got to go with your feelings. It's hedonistic, but yeah, if you're not enjoying it, what is the point of staying?
[00:41:18] Charles: Right, yeah, I agree, totally.
[00:41:21] Roger: And that's the whole point of what I do. If I know someone playing, that started me on multi gigging, because if you know someone's playing up the road and you think, well they're pretty good, I know that, and this band is not doing it for me, I'm gonna go and move on, and that's exactly what I do. And I did that quite early on, and it just makes sense to me, I mean obviously, I can't like everybody, and you gotta stay true to yourself.
[00:41:44] Charles: Right, and it sounds like you see a pretty wide variety of genres as well.
[00:41:49] Roger: Well, I try to, a bit of jazz sometimes.
[00:41:51] If there's a little bit of theatre with it, it's good. You know, if there's a bit more to it than just standing there and playing, it makes it a lot more fun. I've seen a band called Color TV from Cornwall. And, the singer acts like the wild man of Borneo. It's great fun. And it's nice to have a bit of fun, you know.
[00:42:08] I mean, there's stuff I call chamber rock, where it's like cellos, violins, and, it's not full out rock and roll, but it's sort of cabaret rock, and it's, it's just different. They dress up, they, they make a big thing out of appearing smart, and that's always useful. So, there's a lot to see.
[00:42:25] Well, you were asking at one point whether there'd been a shout out for me at a gig, and there's been a few. There was one in London, there's a bunch of buildings that they built after the war, Royal Festival Hall, and there's a few fancy places there.
[00:42:40] Outside there one day in 2018, I got a shout out as I arrived at the gig. It was open air on a baking hot day when I thought my head was gonna get... I'd forgotten to take a hat and it was a baking hot day. I thought I was really gonna get, you know, sunburn on my head. Luckily, I escaped. But I've got a shout out from a band called Blue Crime from the Netherlands.
[00:43:00] Yeah, I keep a diary and eventually, I did start in the pandemic, and when I was sitting on trains making notes and actually attempting to write a book. Believe it or not, I found the gigging bit harder to write about than my early life, because you think, well, I'm not just going to write a book about the gigging.
[00:43:18] I'm going to start at the beginning, you know, where I was born and what happened and schooling and stuff. But when big gigging picked up, it's hard to get down to it again, but I hope to. There is a foundation laid out for it. And, you've given me some thought ‘cause I've made some notes that might come in handy for it. So, there we are.
[00:43:35] Charles: Well, great. I'm glad we could jog your memory in some of these early days.
[00:43:41] Roger: If it spreads a word about music, it's not about me. It's about the music and encouraging people to get out there. I think at one point you said to me about what's the difference between live music and listening to a CD.
[00:43:53] And, a CD is a mere copy of what you hope to see. And, it is what it is, a recording. But when you go to a gig, they're different every time. I just like, when you're there, you can see what's being done. And it's a one off every time, even if they played it all before. It's slightly different, one different song, whatever. And that's the beauty of live music. And, it is an absolute gift.
[00:44:17] Charles: Well, Roger, did you wanna add anything else that maybe we didn't cover? Or, wanna talk about or plug, or something where people can find you?
[00:44:27] Roger: I'm generally on Instagram and Facebook. I don't actually have a website. But, I'm reachable. I generally reply to messages as long as they're not too insulting, you know.
[00:44:37] I mean, after a couple of the other articles, I had a message and it said, "Oh, I'm playing Thursday, come and see me." And I thought, well, excuse me, but, where are you playing? You know, it was too abrupt and I ignored it.
[00:44:49] But yeah, generally, if I know someone's in a band, I would try to see them. I will generally answer questions, I certainly won't promise to go to everything that people tell me about, but yeah, I'll answer messages.
[00:45:00] It works two ways, I appreciate people are interested, and, the whole idea, I hope, to encourage people to do the same sort of thing, I mean, yeah. Okay. You're on your own. Don't, don't be put off. Go. You soon meet people.
[00:45:14] There are still good bands to see. I've seen bands that I'd have been proud to have seen in the sixties as good as anything I've ever seen. And I've seen them in the last few years. There's some brilliant things going on. Some absolutely brilliant things. But obviously, you can't expect good stuff every night. And if you did, you just get so used to it, you wouldn't appreciate it.
[00:45:34] Charles: This has been a fantastic interview, Roger. I really appreciate it.
[00:45:37] Roger: Well, I think we've done pretty well considering the famous quote of we're two countries separated by the same language.
[00:45:44] Doug Florzak: Yes, I love that. Wasn't that Churchill who said that?
[00:45:48] Roger: Could have been. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks a lot you two.
[00:45:50] Charles: Definitely. See you, Roger.
[00:45:53] Roger: Yep. Thank you. Bye
[00:45:56] Charles: That's a wrap for our show. I want to thank today's guests for sharing their concert stories with us. Make sure to check out our show notes at seeingthemlive.com for links to websites, photos, and other artifacts mentioned in the show.
[00:46:12] I also want to thank my producer, Doug Florzak. The theme music for the show was composed by Doug, and is featured on his album, Flagstone. If you have a concert story you'd like to share on our podcast, please visit our website and click on Become a Guest in the main menu. Then fill out the form and click the Submit button.
[00:46:35] If you seem like a good fit for the show, we'll contact you via email. I guess it's time to head for the exits. We'll see you next time on Seeing Them Live.