The issue of music at Priestfield has provoked much discussion in recent seasons. More and more these days clubs use music to help ‘package’ the match experience. The idea being that the music helps rouse the fans before kickoff so there is a good atmosphere at the start of matches.
Perhaps the best exponents of this are Sunderland, whose Stadium of Light builds the atmosphere to a crescendo just as the teams come out of the tunnel. Unfortunately Gillingham FC haven’t really led the way in this department down the years. The main reason for this is the fact that the club haven’t really had a song to identify with.
Gills fan and musician Colin Nash has tried to fix this problem by flexing his musical muscles and laying down some Gills-specific tracks for the club to use. The most notable effort before this season was ‘Home of the Shouting Men’, an original song which had the feel of an old 60’s football sing-along song. It went down pretty well with the fans, so Colin set to work on a new track, which the club could use when the teams run out onto the pitch.
The result is Gills Rock ‘N Roll, an adapted cover version of Shawaddywaddy’s 1974 hit ‘Hey Rock and Roll’. Nash has simply done away with the verses and changed the chorus to:
Gills rock ‘n roll!
Go you blue boys, go!
Gills rock ‘n roll!
Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!
It’s easy to join in with – and with the clapping between the lines of the chorus, it should help get the crowd involved before kick off.
When it was first aired in preseason, the general opinion was of the negative variety, but once the season started and the fans started getting fired up for the new season’s matches, many couldn’t help but join in as the nervous energy of the new season took over. A good friend of mine can’t stand it, yet at the Preston game there he was, clapping along like many other inside the ground.
Colin told me that the song ‘purely to help get the crowd going’ before matches. As a piece of music, it’s not ground breaking at all, but Colin Nash isn’t after the Mercury Music Prize, he’s just trying to help improve the atmosphere inside Priestfield – and credit is due to him for that.
And, d’you know what? I think it might even be working…
Gills365 Verdict: **** 4 stars
‘Musical genius it certainly isn’t, if it helps get the atmosphere going on matchdays, then it’s good enough for me’