rate the last gig you went to

Hahah Mahoney is such a square!

Left them all behind.

They finished their set with the same new song they opened the set with! I ain't hanging around to hear the same shit again.

Had a good day with Krburg at Test Pressings all-dayer in Hackney Wick saturday.

Spent most the day in a venue called the old baths which was pretty good despite having a stage smaller than a phone book. Saw Australian garage-punk band Vintage Crop who were fantastic, probably my favourite band of the day. Los Bitchos female instrumental surf-rock thing, I saw them a few weeks ago, enjoyed them a bit more this time though still it gets a little samey after a while. Black Country New Road were on next, their set seemed to be over before it had even got started - Nice while it lasted but far too short. Caught Mike Krol next, his album I wasn't fussed about but it came across a lot better live & he was getting in the crowd & had plenty of energy. Though I will say, he looks, dresses and acts just like Simon Fowler on stage it was like I was watching a peak 96 Fowler hologram at stage minus the going through the crowd. Good fun even if the sound was a mess. Went over to a place called Grow to catch Dry Cleaning but had to endure some fucking awful band called PVA beforehand, one of the worst things I've seen in quite some time. Dry Cleaning did a short half hour set, sound problems at the start (the sound guy just fucked off) so probably was my least favourite time seeing them but still wonderful. Was going to catch the second half of Moon Duo's set but people were queuing to get in so saw Surfbort at the old baths, was knackered by then so can't comment much but seemed a fun energetic gig from what I can remember.

Suede at Cambridge on Sunday. It was the last gig of their tour and Brett Anderson's voice was absolutely fucked, which on one hand meant he had to speak-sing through half the set or get the audience to sing in a slightly cheesy stadium-rock style, but on the other meant they reeled out a few rarities which were easier for him to get through. He also got a bunch of weirdo groupies up on stage to sing the last song of the encore, at which point I left. Not helped by the fact I'd felt like shit all weekend, but definitely the weakest headline show I've seen them do. The Quietus, on the other hand, loved it (perhaps not surprise given they also manage Suede, a fact not disclosed in the article). 7.5.

Went to see Crows at some pub in Glasgow on Monday. I quite liked their EPs, and the debut album is half decent, so I was hoping this would be a high energy punk show. It was the opposite. Full of dads who like Idles.

The band are alright, but they are basically a poor man’s METZ. But while the latter give off a real energy and are properly exciting, this was just all a bit try hard. It didn’t help their drummer was fucking mince. Seriously, Tony McCarroll would be a serious improvement for these guys. You need a drummer to drive punk bands. This guy couldn’t drive a lawn mower. 5.

Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammed at Norwich Arts Centre last night.

Really enjoyed this. Wasn't too sure what to expect and went mostly because it's not everyday you get a member of A Tribe Called Quest come to Norwich. I didn't mind the album but it really came to life live. Adrian Younge is cool as fuck and really charismatic and the guy they had on vocals had a real soulful voice. The jazz band were great, especially the drummer and it was a lot heavier and funkier than on record. 8.5

So he didn't not want to be in Norwich?

Only the WU hate norwich.

Saw Hotel Lux at the Lexington last night. Support bands were useless. Malady were completely forgettable, wanky guitar tone throughout. Wych Elm sounded like a 4th rate grunge band, I'm OK with their being revivals of scenes that happened in my life-time, though at least have some memorable tunes. Hotel Lux were decent though slightly underwhelming. Definitely have a lot of potential & a few monster tunes under their belt, but definitely not the finished article yet. Was surprised to see the venue only half full, from their latest single alone I expected them to be able to fill that place.

Saw Tropical Fuck Storm @ Dingwalls last night. Australian 3-piece Cable Ties supported, pretty solid. Straight up Indie rock meets post-punk, the longer their tunes the more impressive they sounded to me. Will keep an eye out for them.

TFS were decent, though I dunno, just didn't click with me. They came across a little more RAWK & try-hard live, songs didn't have any space to breathe like they did on record. Was surprised to see how into it a lot of the crowd were as this was their first TCOTU show. Crowd were a bit geeky, I could sense straight away that there was a huge percentage of people that have enjoyed seeing Muse live in the past. Also, Dingwalls sucks. A complete nightmare to ever have a piss or get a drink in, so many bloody stairs everywhere.

Fat White Family @ SWG3

Big step up from the Fat Whites. I last saw them in 2016 and they were still very chaotic, relying a lot on the raw power of their songs to get them through. This was a different level. They still have that visceral energy - and frankly look odd enough you’d cross the road to avoid them - but they’ve really upped their game in terms of musicianship. They have a much beefier live sound. Older songs like Hits Hits Hits sounds a 100x better, while new stuff like Tastes Good With The Money were banging. Fuck me, they were even doing four-part harmonies in places. Really great gig, whole venue was buzzing. 9.

The Horrors at the Albert Hall. They did Primary Colours in full to mark its 10th anniversary, plus a 7-8 song encore of greatest hits (sadly including a couple from the debut). They sounded tremendous and had an impressive light show, but the venue was way too big for them. In the words of popular forum member Krburg, it should have been at the Kentish Town Forum. On the other hand, it meant there was next to no queue for the bar. 8/10.

Better Oblivion Community Center @ Shepherd's Bush Empire. The songs from the LP had a lot more energy to them. They performed together the entire night, did 3 of Phoebe's solo songs as well as 3 Bright Eyes numbers & a magnetic fields cover. Was a fun show, had a live illustrator drawing each tune shown on screens as well as deck chairs & beach balls.
Christian Lee Hutson supported, he was part of the Oblivion band on keys/guitar. Did a solo acoustic set which I was quite impressed with, told some amusing stories/jokes inbetween songs too. For a solo support it was probably one of the more enjoyable ones I've seen in a while.

I saw a young Canadian band called Pottery, in Luxembourg last night. Best new young band I’ve seen live in years.

Hard to pin their sound down, but garage post punk funk rock is a good start. Fantastic frontman, and great rhythm section. They’ve got 1 EP out which is decent but doesn’t do their live stuff justice. There’s a little bit of Fat White Family and little bit of Parquet Courts about them. They were genuinely excellent. 9/10.

This is a recent gig of theirs.

That looks pretty promising and I might check their debut, but is David Byrne the one to blame for that breeding of monotonous post-punk singers? I'd love to hear any other voice under that kind of instrumental backing.

I listened to this EP the other day as a mate recommended it, I thought it was alight, if somewhat a little flat compared to some other stuff i've been loving in that same area recently. I'll probably try and check them out live.

Primal Scream at Scala last night. Pretty underwhelming, this was a warm up for their festival slots and touring the new singles compilation but for much of the set it felt like they were going through the motions. They're still only playing with one guitarist and don't have backing singers for Bobby G anymore. A couple of the Xtrmntr numbers were big but they played a dire version of Velocity Girl at half speed, and a low point was two back-to-back ballads over which you could hear three women scrapping. 6/10.

I enjoyed the gig, but the days of Primal Scream being a vital live act are sadly long gone now. The guitar driven numbers sound weak without the additional guitarist & the Screamadelica numbers aren't the same without the backup singers. I'd probably give the gig a 7, but I doubt I'd ever pay to see Primal Scream again now. I'll stick to the memories of the onslaught with Kevin Shields in the early 00's or the incredible Screamadelica gigs they did. Was so excited to hear Velocity Girl live finally & it sounded like total shit Kowalski & Kill All Hippies were probably the highlights.