rate the last gig you went to

black country new road at Peckham Arts centre.

Good stuff, though at this point they're only performing hour long sets which would be fine, but there's a bit too much noodling/long intro's in there. Once they get up to 90 minute sets I'll be fine with it but I wish they were a little more direct at this point. Good set, though they are my least favourite of THE BIG 4 (squid, black midi, dry cleaning). Still the set had 2 or 3 fantastic moments.
Deathcrash supported, Slowcore stuff, basically sounded like Slint. Set had a couple of nice moments (the louder more aggressive parts) but kinda forgettable though it isn't a genre I particularly gravitate too anyway.

First gig of the year today, my best mate Ryley Walker at Cafe Oto.

Really liked the venue, nice chilled out vibe with minimal queuing for toilet and drinks despite being sold out. Cian Nugent supported and did a good set of mostly new songs apart from the opener that I recognised from his last album.

The previous 3 times I'd seen Ryley he had been with his band who are superb and properly take the songs to another level so I was a bit concerned a solo acoustic gig would feel a bit tame in comparison. I'm also obviously chuffed for the guy hes off the booze and drugs now but did wonder if it might have a negative impact to the performance. It was a stunning gig though and we had the best seats in the house with him basically playing in our laps. Was a real good opportunity to see and appreciate his excellent guitar playing up close and personal.

First time ever not going out on the lash with him after but he did come straight over for a chat the second I walked in the venue and again after. Fanboy JP left happy. 9/10

^ went to that same gig. Had never heard of Cian Nugent, though JP informed me that I'd rated his album 3 stars on RYM and I'd also raved about his garage/power-pop band the number ones, so maybe I had heard of him Nice set. Ryley Walker was great, 1st time seeing him. Don't remember ever being so impressed by someone's technique with an acoustic guitar in a live setting. Also he's a funny fucker too. Good stuff

Then day after went to Omeara to see Ian Noe. His record sorta folk/america verging on country, but damn, it was a proper country audience People in fucking cowboy hats and all the women in checkered shirts. I felt too cool to be in their presence. Then the support act came on, she was called Kelsey Waldon, from the name you can tell what she sounded like. full on 100% country Like the awful contemporary American rubbish. She was giving it all that 3 chords and the truth bollox and 90% of her set was singing about Kentucky.
Was really scared Ian Noe would be proper shit from this moment on, but it turned out arlight. His playing style is a little safe & his songwriting though solid doesn't offer anything too ambitious - though his voice is fucking great, elevates what could be forgettable material to something worthwhile. It was a decent gig, though he played for fucking ages & after a while with it being just him & a guitar it started to sound a bit samey, plus his had no good inbetween song banter which is vital if you're gonna do the lonesome songwriter thing. Decent gig, will keep an eye out for him, maybe if he gets himself a killer band he'll be worth seeing again.

i'd imagine ian noe seemed so safe as it was only 24 hours after seeing THE GREATEST GUITAR PLAYER IN THE WORLD ryler walker.

Ryley Walker was like seeing Ryan Adams.. without the tunes

Fat White Family yesterday. Really good I thought, don't really care much of their records but it was more beefier and professional? than I expected, even if I knew they're pretty good live. They're a bunch of people you can spend a good while just enjoying how they perform, plus it was loud and loved the 3 vocals + Lias response bits. Hard to explain but to me it feels like the kind of band/performers that can only come from Albion tbh (even if their family origins are not British). I still feel they lack the songs to step up to the next level and there's no way you can capture the show into a record but pretty fine 8.1/10

The Sadies last night. They play the same 40 songs every time but by god are they ever tight. Somehow they’ve climbed into the top 10 of acts I’ve seen the most and I’m totally fine with that, seeing them once every year or two for 90minutes bashing out the space folk/rock is fine with me, 7/10

It's many moons since I rated the last gig I went to (costing myself about 10 posts in the all important rankings, yet still gaining a place due to some Kentish has-been deleting his account), but I saw Howie Payne at The Old Queen's Head in Islington on Wednesday. He played lead guitar as part of a five-piece band which he described as the "most rocking" arrangement he'd had in 10-15 years. It lacked the magic of The Stands but otherwise he probably wasn't wrong. Lots of parkas, fanbois and Wellards in the crowd, as well as that bloke from The Zutons who plays bass for Dwayne. 8/10.

Was there much of a crowd? When I last saw him in Glasgow the turnout was about 40, tops. And at least 75% of them were Wellends.

I'd say 100-150. It was the upstairs room of a boozer and he'd sold it out. I think because he gigs so infrequently he can still get folk out, but without any serious PR behind him he'll not exactly be doing 4 nights at Brixton.

Even at their peak the Stands could only pull about 350 punters in TCOTU.

It probably wasn't too different in Jockland tbh. I think we all look back on them playing bigger venues supporting the likes of JET but actually the few headline tours they did never got beyond the King Tut's/Oran Mor level. In hindsight it's remarkable that they made such a name for themselves almost exclusively as an opening act (plus a Dwayne G namedrop) - maybe one of the singles snuck into the top 40 but they had far less commercial success than the likes of the vastly inferior Zutons.

Saw the mighty GURR at The Lexington last night, together with popular forum members Mahoney and Krburg. I thought they sounded great but the gig was a bit subdued, perhaps because it had been rescheduled from a Friday to a Tuesday, or maybe because some of the crowd - naming no names - were on the lime and sodas. Anyway, they played the hits and kept the slightly awkward stage chat about Harry Potter to a minimum. 7/10.

Saw Juliper Sky and Slowlines at the Lexington last night for a charity gig. Not been there since Dustins with Karl and crew years ago.

Both bands were pretty mesmerising with a massive sound. Plenty of reverb and a good use of vocoders, synths and other toys. Full band performance from Slowlines, was expecting a duo for some reason.

A solid 7/10

Black Midi at Norwich Arts Centre tonight.

I went in with really high expectations and they didn't quite meet those but still a really good gig. Vocals were too low to begin with but they sorted that eventually. The sax is so dominant now it's weird to imagine then not having that as part of their live sound previously. 8.5

Supergrass @ the Barrowland

A fun gig and they sound tight. But the whole thing just smacked of touring for the simple sake of another pay day. Live music in the U.K. just moves further and further down the road of big nostalgia gigs. That’s not Supergrass’ fault, obvs. It is remarkable how fresh they sound in 2020, compared to many of their mid-90s contemporaries. For that, I give them a 7.

I'd love to see them tbh, one of my biggest pending ones. Also would be great if they recorded something again, could go better than other cases.

Had a trip to Liverpool/Birmingham over the weekend to see Dry Cleaning with Pozi supporting. Booked it well in advance, 18 quid to Liverpool, 6 quid national rail to birmingham and under 10 quid back on the train home. can't knock that.

Liverpool on a friday night is lively to say the least Every single pub/venue I passed had either a covers band, some idiot with an acoustic guitar or someone doing karaoke & it felt like everyone was singing Neil Diamond or Bon Jovi. got to The Shipping Forecast, tiny little place with literally no stage. I was about 3 people back & could barely see a thing. Pozi were good though you couldn't hear the vocals for the first part of the set. Dry Cleaning were great as always, though the sound was a little bit iffy due to the low ceiling & whatnot. They performed a new song which was written down as Jam Jar on the setlist which was really great. Frustrating venue but good gig.

Birmingham was bloody brilliant. The Sunflower Lounge is a great little venue, probably same capacity as The Shipping Forecast but with a high ceiling, good PA & a stage so people can actually see. Pozi played a blinder, the best time I've seen them. They've got a couple of new songs in the set which are banging. Really good responsive crowd throughout the night too, everyone seemed really into it. Dry Cleaning smashed it, possibly the best time I've seen them. Sound was spot on, crowd was into it, perfect set really. That new song Jam Jar sounded so great tonight, the guitar solo is real big, probably one of their best songs after hearing it a couple of times. Finished off with Conversation as always but they brought out Pozi to jam out with them. Sounded very Crazy Horse with the extra guitarist, then you've got the violin and the drummer shaking shit whilst screaming down a microphone - though I don't think they switched his mic on as I couldn't hear him Perfect gig, loved it.
Had a lengthy chat the Pozi drummer/singer afterwards that included many tales shared about Dustin's Bar Mitzvah Lovely bloke.

Had a real pleasant time both times I've been to Birmingham, I really like the city tbh. Found a really great place called Tilt that does craft beers & has 3 floors of pinball tables whilst blasting out great music (the fall, gang of four, velvets, Can) Great to play on a vintage Addams family table, was always my favourite back in the day. The amount of homelessness in Birmingham is shocking though, I thought TCOTU was bad. Whether where it's a smallish City that it becomes more compact I don't know but there was barely a shop corner that didn't have someone asking for money or someone in a sleeping bag.