NeMeSiS at the Fox and Duck

The previous, and only, time that I had seen Nemesis before (also at the Fox and Duck) I missed the first half due to a clashing theatre date so I was pleased to be able to get there just before the official 9pm start this time.

The prime seats were already taken but I managed to get a decent vantage point on the curve of the bar where I could both see the band, despite the best efforts of Ian Morris (bass) to hide, and could also reach my Doombar.

Nemesis started to play dead on 9pm.

The set was much as expected in the main but there were quite a few surprises along the way, such as 20th Century Boy, Mrs Robinson and Radar Love. Generally it was a selection of singles and shorter tracks though there were a few longer things in the mix too, such as the classic Smoke on the Water.

The songs were (mostly) familiar but always played in Nemesis' style. And that style is head-on fast relentless rock with each of the three instruments playing their full and distinctive part.

At one point there was a short discussion on what song to play next and Ian helpfully suggested that they play what was next on the set list so lead guitar Jonny D. started playing the opening refrain from House of the Rising Sun which caused Ian to modify his advice to playing the next song in the style that that usually played it in.

Actually I liked their fast rocky versions of slow songs like that but it was a little hard to get The Dickies out of my mind as they did so.

With a reasonable break of half an hour or so, Nemesis played until midnight, closing with Smells Like Teen Spirit. The set list that I saw had five songs after that including Neil Young's Rockin' in the Free World which I loved the last time that I saw them.

There was plenty of good stuff to sing a long to and there may even be some photos somewhere of me dancing but these would obviously be Photoshopped.

It was good to catch some time with Chris York (drums) after the gig while he demolished his substantial kit. I was pleased to be able to tell him that Nemesis reminded me of Cream in that everybody knows that Eric Clapton played lead guitar but everybody also remembers Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. Nemesis are a power trio of three equal parts.