John Robb hit home turf (well close) in Sale Waterside last night after a month promoting his book ‘Punk Rock Ruined My Life’ around the UK.
After wowing goth audiences in 2023 with The Art of Darkness, he quickly followed it with Live Forever: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Oasis, and has just published his long awaited memoirs. The book covers his early days growing up in Blackpool, through the ups and (mostly) downs as a struggling punk in a seaside town, ‘not like you city dwellers’, his long standing roles at the helm of The Membranes and later, Goldblade, and writing about it all through various outlets, from Zig Zag and Sounds in the ‘80’s and 90’s through to his 15 year tenure at Louder Than War.
Most book launches I’ve been to are set up as interviews between the writer and a suitable name to pull the stories from them, but John’s was a little different. It was more like the John Robb one man show, with him showering us with anecdotes, stage front, holding on to the mic like the punk rocker he is, sans bass!
He kept the show running throughout with bursts of energy, accompanied by a slide show of all the significant events from his long, rollercoaster of a career. The Membranes playing their first gig in 1978 – 15 minutes of noise, where no one could play their instruments! Discovering The Stone Roses, nicking records with Alan McGee to subsidise his train home from London, interviewing Nirvana before anyone else got near them, and without spoiling it any more for those attending the coming events, how he got to where he is now.
After around an hour and a half, John took a break, after which he introduced us to Paul and Steve Hanley, formerly of The Fall and currently of the band made up of ex-Fall members, House Of All. Cue further tales of the unexpected, (or ‘mostly expected’, where Mark E Smith was involved), about how the two were recruited, and variously dropped, picked up again and finally quit one of the most eclectic bands in UK history.
John is in Chorley tonight before heading further afield to complete the tour on the 13th of June in Swansea. See Dates below. Catch him if you can; a true punk survivor who is not afraid of telling it like it is!
Dates:
| Date | City | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 31 May | Chorley | Theatre |
| 1 Jun | Colchester | Arts Centre |
| 2 Jun | Norwich | Arts Centre |
| 3 Jun | London | Jacksons Lane |
| 4 Jun | Brighton | Komedia |
| 5 Jun | Bristol | Folk House |
| 6 Jun | Chester | Storyhouse |
| 12 Jun | Newport | Corn Exchange |
| 13 Jun | Swansea | Grand Theatre |
Guests
- Chorley – Paul & Steve Hanley
- Colchester – Lily Hopkins (The Meffs)
- Norwich – Lily Hopkins (The Meffs)
- London – Gaye Black
- Brighton – Gaye Black
- Bristol – Adam Mole
- Newport – Adam Mole
- Swansea – Adam Mole
Book: https://louderthanwar.com/john-robb-memoirs-and-spoken-word-tour-may-2026/
Buy the signed book: https://membranes.bandcamp.com/merch/john-robb-memoirs-punk-rock-ruined-my-life
~
Words & Interview by Nigel Carr – More writing by Nigel on Louder Than War can be found in his Author’s archive.You can find Nigel onTwitterandFacebookNigel is the Executive Producer ofNew Dawn Fades – A Play About Joy Division and Manchesterwhich is touring this Autumn from 1 September.
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