rate the last gig you went to

Singing.. pffftt.. if they were to talk in a Spanish accent over the music, i'd give it a go.

Singing is for squares.

I see a gap for that, we could call it post-siesta or ole-punk

Singing is for Squares; Talking is for Squires


You can have that.

How is Karl “the spreadsheet” Mahoney coping without being able to log 10 thousand gigs a year on his iPad?

Hes got several gigs this week I'll have you know.

Karl is in a tier 2 area so pretty sure he wouldn’t risk becoming a super spreader but breaking all of the rules.

Glad to finally be able to dig this thread back up and have also realised I didn't bother to add anything after the last gig of all time last March.

Me & popular forum member Krburg did manage to get a bunch of gigs in before the country was fully locked down again. Saw Black Midi a couple of times at the Windmill as a 3-piece. Lias from Fat White Family also at the Windmill, pretty decent solo acoustic thing. Black Midi at the Jazz Cafe doing the 3 piece set then returning with SAX, keys & other cool shit, wonderful night. Elsewhere, two gigs that I was joined by popular forum member FOREVER, Richard Dawson at the Barbican & a night at the George Tavern which a band called DOG which were a lot of fun. Peeping Drexels & Lime were both forgettable.

Finally saw my first gigs of 2021 over the weekend, the first two with popular forum member Krburg.

Gruff Rhys at Islington Assembly Hall. This was on the night his new album was released, was hoping it would be with full band. As much as I love Gruff, I've seen him 10,000 times & the prospect of watching someone with an acoustic guitar isn't top priority after the past year.  He spent most of it with his power-point presentation telling stories. Started with FFA COFFI PAWB classic Valium, which I'd love to hear with a full band. No idea why he still insists on performing colonise the moon at every bloody show but he did it. Threw in some new tunes & Gathering Moss. Decent night



Saturday was Goat Girl at The Dome in Tufnell Park. Dan Carey opened with what I assume was an improv electronic drone set... basically ripping off The Jesus Abyss. Had a women sat on a chair asleep next to him whilst he performed. Quite enjoyed it, if only to see how far my influenced has spread.

Goat Girl... I really want to like this band. The debut I never got the fuss about & the new one I just can't get on with. Did enjoy them live 3 or 4 years back. Here they did their new album in full, unfortunately the sound in the venue was really shit. Drums were far too loud & the guitars and vocals too low in the mix. It sorted itself out by the second half of the set. Ended up being decent if a little underwhelming. Still, nice to be out and hear some live music again.



Yesterday I went to see a workmates band play in the Red Lion in Gravesend. We all walked around the back all masked up thinking we'd be shown to a table... was clear Corona doesn't exist in Gravesend Ended up being my favourite gig of the weekend, typical mix of pub-rock/garage, threw in a Sonics cover. Felt great to watch some loud rock n roll again in what felt like normality. God bless Gravesend, no wonder Pocahontas went there to die.

so pleased to be posting back in this thread

i saw moses boyd this afternoon doing an outdoor gig in norwich. he's a sensational drummer and a joy to watch. was joined by a guitarist, sax player and keyboard player and they're a tight unit. did just over an hours set in the sunshine which was a great way to return to live music. shunaji a female rapper supported who was ok. ebi soda played too and were pretty good.

Lisasinson + Aiko el grupo + Finale

Shows were good enough but it was a seated concert on a fucking wedding place, I got hammered and it was expensive

Saw Black Midi last Friday at St John's church in Hackney with popular forum member Krburg. It was an earlier show, was really excited for this but unfortunately the sound was fucking diabolical. Just an onslaught of sound that sounded terrible, presumably because of the Church's high structure, but also having the guy do the sound from the side of the stage is never a good thing. A shame as the band were in great spirits, came on all dressed as chef's and opened with the 20th century fox theme tune. Did most (all?) the new record. The energy was there and it was great to have my ears raped for the first time in a long time, just a shame it sounded so rubbish. 



Monday I saw The Rhythm Method do an early show at The Moth Club with no popular forum members in attendance. Great to be back at one of my favourite venues again. A couple of their new songs were really dire the keyboard guy insists on playing guitar now. When they got the earlier material out towards the end it was pretty banging. Do like this band a lot, I really hope they somehow find success with a hit out of the blue, though the new material didn't sound promising at all.
]

Then last night I saw Pozi at Studio 9294 with popular forum members Forever & Krburg. A electronic 2 piece called "UH" supported, pretty solid, they had a couple of bangers. Pozi did a mixture of their debut & last years EP plus one new song which sounded outstanding. I wish the set was longer but they played a blinder even if the bass player forgot how to start the final song. The best performance I've seen since we've been allowed to have socially distanced gigs again this year.
[/a]

Saw SQUID with popular forum member Krburg on Saturday. It was a hell of a day involving Cable Cart's, wonderful views from toilets & a penalty spot table. It was at the Silver Building not far over the water from the 02 in what I assume is usually a car park.

Martha Skye Murphy supported, she does this minimal ethereal piano based thing with lots of loops & a violin. I quite enjoyed it even if it wasn't the ideal type of music for a Saturday night


Squid played a set of mostly new (as in unreleased) material as well as maybe 5 of the record. First half of the set sounded great, though you could tell that they're still fleshing out some of these new numbers. The second half of the set the brand new material was banging & they finished with the 1-2 of Pamphlets & Narrator with Martha Skye Murphy screaming all over it, incredible finish. Best gig of the year so far & a wonderful day out.

I saw Apartamentos Acapulco on Saturday, they were fine enough but I'm starting getting quite anxious by this seated thing, got quite depressed with it all

How comes Barny? The things I've been to have been small scale so I don't mind the seating arrangements. Tend to just get there early enough to get a decent one. Kinda nice having drinks brought to the table & having no queues for toilets.

If I just talk about the show, it's hard to get into it for me. But there are more reasons

Squid in Norwich tonight.

Just wonderful. My first indoor gig in over a year and it was so good to hear loud guitars again.

Saw The Cool Greenhouse with popular forum member Krburg on Wednesday at the Windmill. Blue Bendy supported, a band Kev has told me about before. They were... interesting. I'm not entirely sure if I rated them or not. Odd band, weird time signatures, songs feel disjointed yet they had enough about them that had me intrigued. Will keep an eye out for them. The Cool Greenhouse were bloody magnificent. Not listened to the album for a little while & had forgot how much I love those songs. The main guy is a funny fucker & despite the bands music being what I'd imagine easy as fuck to perform they still sounded great considering this was only their about 7th gig ever. Couple of new songs sounded great, especially one where he talks about his struggles trying to send a couple of tea towels via the post Love this band




Thursday I saw Tiña with popular forum members Forever & Krburg at the 100 Club. Vanity Fairy supported, a women in outrageous getup doing this sort of 80s pop, like a cross between Divine, Madonna & Kate Bush. Was expecting the set to be rubbish when she started but fucking hell she had a couple of banging tunes in the set. Could imagine seeing her late night at a club or festival and it being a blast.
Tiña were great, only the second time I've seen them. Did most the record, sounded wonderful. Did a new one which sounded cool too. Had a pretty good run in recent weeks despite the restrictions still being in place, lucky to have so many good bands playing in L0ndon right now.

Saw Black Midi at The Windmill with popular forum member Krburg on Saturday. They supported themselves as a fictional L.A. band called the Orange Tree Boys doing a set of comedy blues rock. Finished with an ACDC cover, entertaining stuff & despite the fact they were having a laugh its mental to see them musically pull off a different style & do it so convincingly. They came back on half hour later & did a Black Midi set of mostly brand new material plus a few from the new record. You never quite know what to expect when Black Midi play, pretty much every time I've seen them has been different to the last


Yesterday went to The Moth Club with popular forum member Forever to see John Bramwell of I Am Kloot fame. Dave Fidler supported.. he's OK. Bramwell was as pissed as you'd expect & cackled away at his own jokes all night. Got out a bunch of Kloot classics. Good gig even if the middle of the set sagged a little. Still absolutely adore those early Kloot records so just great to hear those songs again & what a wonderful voice he has.

Bramwell's great. Been to see him a bunch of times both with Kloot and also solo. Last time I seen him was in the Empire, which probably holds about 800 people, there must have been 15 at it (including bar staff). He was obviously smashed. At one point he was getting heckled by a group of fella's stood at the back which he took in his stride, it then continued for a couple more songs so he had security kick them out. I don't think I've ever been to a gig where a 5th of the entire crowd were told to get out. Glorious stuff.

The same gig was then ended early as the music from the downstairs bar was drowning him out, so he just got down of the stage mid-song, went to the bar and spent the rest of the night just talking to everyone.