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Blockheads return to Bury St Edmunds...

Starting out as the band behind Ian Dury, the Blockheads are a legendary outfit who have continued gigging from the early days of the Stiff tour in 1977, right up to the present day.  Backing up Ian Dury’s poetic lyrics, this is the band that brought you ‘Hit Me with your Rhythm Stick’, ‘What A Waste’, ‘Reasons to be Cheerful (Part 3)’, and ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’, among many others.

Rarely off the road since the demise of Ian Dury in 2000, but now with Derek Hussey fronting the band, the Blockheads are still one of the most underrated British bands of all time, with a legion of fans of all ages.

2013’s album, ‘Same Horse Different Jockey’, was released on the 35^th anniversary of the release of ‘Hit Me with your Rhythm Stick’; the album continues to show both their diversity and supreme quality, as well as showcasing their uniqueness.

Derek Hussey is known to the bands followers as Dury’s best friend and minder, memorably singing with Ian and the band at a televised concert in the late 1990’s. Hussey’s lyrics in the new songs keep the same combination of poetry, word play, earthy humour and deadly-accurate observations of everyday, working-class life that Ian Dury perfected, but with added bite for the 21st century. 

As well as through their own new material, interest in ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’, the recent biopic of their erstwhile front man Ian Dury, the performance of ‘Spasticus Autisticus’ at the 2012 Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony, and the musical ‘Reasons To be Cheerful’, has created a resurgence in the band’s popularity over the past couple of years.

The Blockheads still feature Chaz Jankel, Norman Watt-Roy, John Turnbull and Mick Gallagher from the original band.  The current line-up is augmented by John Roberts on drums and a rolling line up of saxophonists that includes Gilad Atzmon, Terry Edwards and Dave Lewis.

Along with some new material you can expect to hear ‘Hit Me with your Rhythm Stick’, ‘Wake Up And Make Love With Me’, ‘Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3)’, ‘What A Waste’, ‘Clevor Trever’, ‘Sweet Gene Vincent’ and many more from the illustrious back catalogue.

Blockheads play at The Apex on Thursday 2 June at 8pm. Tickets are £18 in advance or £20 on the door. Ring The Apex box office on 01284 758000 or see www.theapex.co.uk for more details or to book.