WHEN Lime Spiders' frontman Mick Blood steps onto the Wickham Park Hotel stage on Friday night it'll mark an emotional return to Newcastle.
The last time he visited the city he almost died.
It was 2014 and Blood had just resettled in the harbourside suburb of Stockton, following the breakdown of his relationship with his then fiance in Queensland.
Shortly after the move Blood was bashed in "an unprovoked attack" outside a Stockton hotel which put him in a coma for three days and left him with a permanent brain injury.
As the founder of one of the most influential Sydney garage and psych-rock bands of the '80s, many of Blood's peers bonded together to host a "Bloodstock" benefit show to assist with his long recovery and rehabilitation.
In recent years Blood has slowly returned to the spotlight. Last year he wrote Lime Light: The Definitive Story Of The Lime Spiders and started performing with a new Lime Spiders line-up, which features Matt Perin (drums), Ray Lloyd James (guitar) and Paul de Zubicaray (bass).
"It was an awful period," Blood says of the assault. "I was lucky to survive that attack. Unfortunately it ended my plans for Newcastle.
"It was heavy duty, but I've obviously moved on.
"This visit means a lot to me personally. I established a lot of good friends there, quality people, who know what happened. There's gonna be a lot of love in the air."
After forming in western Sydney in 1979, Lime Spiders caught wide spread attention when their second single Slave Girl, which was produced by Radio Birdman's Rob Younger, became the biggest-selling independent Australian single of all time.
Lime Spiders' 1987 single, Weirdo Libido, was the first song ever played on ABC institution, Rage, and the band subsequently released three albums through major label, Virgin Records.
Blood says he was inspired to write Lime Light to correct the record on Lime Spiders' legacy.
"The common misconception is we were a punk band," he says. "We were never a punk band. We had punk influences in the attitude more than anything else, and little bit in the music. I find that to be a derogatory term, to be honest.
"We were always a great guitar-based band. Our influences were more '60s pop and psychedelica with '70s hard rock.
"We were much better musicians than the average punk band. The average punk are pretty sloppy in general and there's a lot of rubbish out there.
"I didn't like being lumped in that ball park. I hope this dispels that myth and a few others."
Newcastle was always an important market for Lime Spiders. Blood recalls playing at the Cambridge Hotel in the '80s with Aspect, who became pub-rock legends The Screaming Jets.
"We always had a good following," Blood says. "Newcastle people are enthusiastic and love their rock'n'roll.
"I just find Newcastle people down to earth and receptive. They know a good band when they see one and respond accordingly."
Lime Spiders play the Wickham Park Hotel on Friday.
