rate the last gig you went to

Wales should be permanently locked down tbh

Charlatans with popular forum member Rod. Not seen charlatans do their own headline gig for maybe ten years now. Used to moan about hearing the same old hits each time I saw them but ended up enjoying the big obvious hits more than I thought I would. A few lulls in the set, sleepy little sunshine boy & a man needs to be told I’d have swapped out for better tunes but all in all, they sounded as good as I remembered. They’re literally a less successful Rolling Stones at this point.

just realised that despite crowning it gig of the year i never posted it in this thread....

THE CHARLATANS AT NORWICH UEA

10/10 ALL NEET

Went to my first gig in bloody ages. Howling Bells at 229. They had reformed to do their debut in full, which was perfect for me as I love that record & was never huge on what followed. Good gig, her voice is still dreamy & it was great to hear all those songs again. Venue was half empty, despite tickets being 2-4-1 when they went on sale. Also 229 has been tarted up & now they charge £6.60 a pint, though perhaps that's just an indication of how much all venues will be charging now. Support was some women on a keyboard called Lexi Berg, it was fucking horrendous.

cast at norwich waterfront on sunday night

did all change in full and then an encore of other HITS. what a wonderful way to start my gig going in 2022

Went with popular forum member Krburg to the moth club Saturday for an all-dayer of bands.
Quade opened up, a kinda post-rock/slow-core(perhaps) type thing. Their set had its moments but for the most part passed me by, though that sound has never been a favourite of mine. Probably one to keep an eye out for.
Polyscraps were up next, I knew before they even played a note that they were going to be insufferable cunts because they all looked like insufferable cunts. They also sounded like insufferable cunts.
In Tongues were next. Had seen them do one of their early gigs at the windmill during the sit-down-covid-era and was really impressed. A year or so has gone by since then so was hoping they'd got a lot better & whilst their set had a few standout moments, I think I preferred them the 1st time around.
The Early Mornings were next. A 3-piece from Manchester doing a energetic indie-pop/rock thing. I enjoyed their mini record/EP thing quite a bit and they worked wonderfully live. Not sure if they had their regular drummer, he looked like he'd just come from a national front rally & the vocalist had to tell him to slow down during almost every song probably my favourite band of the night.
The Bug Club headlined, similar kind of thing, 3-piece from Wales but a bit more on the rockier side than pop. They did about an hour and blasted through probably 20+ tunes. They started by speeding from one tune into the next & this kinda approach works perfect for them. Unfortunately the sound was a bit shit & towards the end of the set they were dragging songs out and getting a little bit RAWK with it. Still, a lot of fun & I'm hoping next time I see them it'll be even better.

Then Sunday morning I saw The Smile with popular forum member Krburg. They performed at a place called Magazine in North Greenwich. All gigs on Sundays should be forced to take place first thing in the morning. It felt amazing to come out of it and the sun was shining & I had a full day still ahead of me. Anyway, they had built this incredible stage setup where everyone was sat in a circle around them. It sounded phenomenal. Could kinda understand why they charged so much a ticket when you realise a ton of effort had been made to set that up. A shame it seems it was only for those 3 gigs, would have been great to see other bands take advantage of that setup. Anyway, the gig was superb. One of the best sounding gigs I've ever been to & a pleasure to watch Thom, Jonny & the guy from Sons of Kemet perform. The material sounds like... well Radiohead. I see no reason why this couldn't be a Radiohead project, but either way nice to see Jonny rocking on the guitar a bit more again. Special gig. Not sure I'd spend the cash to see them do the same set again, but I urge everyone to catch them on this tour.

Tuesday lunchtime I went to Rough Trade East to see Dry Cleaning perform with popular forum members Roderick McSneel & Krburg. I don't think I'm going to tire of seeing Dry cleaning tbh. Did a quite lengthy set for an instore gig & the sound was spot on. Viking Hair is one of my favourite songs of alltime to hear performed live, its a monster.

Then later that night went along to the Windmill with popular forum member Krburg. A insanely young group of musicians opened called Morgan Noise (well, I think its the project name of the singer/sax player). Probably one of their first ever gigs & they were impressive. I enjoyed the more frantic and noisy side of their set, but still impressive that they had the confidence to perform slow vocal-jazz numbers as well as make a racket. Work in progress, but shall keep an eye out as they had tons of talent, the drummer was great.

O were up next, seen them support on the Black Midi tour end of last year. 2 piece baritone-sax and drums couple. They've got a half hour energetic set completely locked down. Would like to see them hit the festival circuit hard this summer, I think they'll go down a storm in those kinda surroundings.

The event was headlined by what was billed as The Karaoke evening. It was Geordie & Cameron from Black Midi, the drummer from BCNR & some other guy on guitar performing a covers set with audience members doing the vocals. They performed everything from Abba to C-Lo Green, to Cher to the Beastie Boys. Was a fun night.

How does the Swede feel about your beautiful blossoming relationship with popular forum member KrBurg? He's a beautiful man and from what i've been told a gentle yet generous lover.

& to think I left out the part where me & popular forum member Krburg watched a 100 year old film together & then had a romantic dinner inbetween Dry Cleaning & Black Midi

😅😅

Friday I went to The George Tavern with popular forum member Krburg. The Early Mornings opened, pretty much same set as the gig last week, though the drummer was under control this time. The Cool Greenhouse headlined & were fucking GREAT. The best time I've seen them. They're managing to rock out a bit more now without it sounding forced or naff. The new material is really cool, the song they opened with has a afrobeat feel to it, especially in the keys.

Sunday I went to a matinee show at the Lexington. 2 gigs in 2 Sundays that ended nice and early, man I'd go every week if that was the case. Needs to be made a law that live music must be done by 6pm on Sundays #oldmanmahoney. The Utopia Strong (featuring Steve the Nugget Davis) opened. Did 3 lengthy pieces in an hour, enjoyed it more than the 1st time I saw them. Teeth of the Sea headlined, a band who's name I've seen about loads over the years but hadn't heard until last week. 3 piece doing progressive electronic meets post-rock with a bit of industrial thrown in. This was really fucking good in places, so much energy to it. HOWEVER, one of the guys when he isn't playing on the synths plays a flying V like he's in Iron Maiden circa 1982, does stupid rock poses whilst doing it too. Didn't help where I was stood I could hear his monitor way too loud so he overpowered everything. Enjoyed himself far too much, twat. Anyway, good gig almost ruined by a silly man with a silly guitar.

No Dry Cleaning this week?

I wish!

As you may have noticed I have given up on all new music and just go to see heritage acts.

Therefore Friday night I went to see Echo and the Bunnymen at Norwich UEA. Had half fancied it when it was first announced but thought 35quid a pop was a bit expensive. Managed to get a pair on twickets for 20quid each so was happy with that. I'd only seen them once before supporting Primal Scream a few years back and thought they were great but a support slot meant they only had time for the hits. Despite playing longer this time they kept it mostly to the classics with only 2 dud newer numbers. Sound was loud and I've always liked McCulloch as a frontman. Good night.

Mujeres + aiko el grupo opening on Saturday, it was quite great show and night, pre-pandemic feelings.

I saw Anthony Joseph perform at Woolwich works Friday. Really nice new community centre/music venue that they've opened up. It's a really big space & unfortunately it was nowhere near sold out. Anthony asked if there was anyone from Woolwich there & basically no locals are using the place which is a shame. Anyway, the gig was fucking phenomenal. Anthony's 5 piece band are just fucking sensational, drums, guitar, bass & 2 sax players. Anthony's poetry is just as powerful in person as it is on record. I feel he's flown under the radar a little bit with that last record, I hope he & the band manage to hit the festival circuit this summer as I feel that'll be where people really start to take notice. Cool venue, hope it stays open for a while, they're booking some decent stuff & I can get a bus there from outside my house so I'm hoping to go back there on a regular basis.

Then Saturday last minute decided to go along to an instore show from the one and only ANDY BELL. He was promoting his album doing one of his Space station gigs, which is basically him with some loops, drum machines & other gadgets playing some solo guitar on top. Ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. He did a few off the new record which basically didn't work as it was him playing guitar over his record more or less. Though the bulk of the set was made up of his GLOK material, he'd drop some big beats & then do some improv guitar, was pretty fucking banging in spots. You get the feeling he's still experimenting & finding his feet with this setup, but I'm sure if he takes it more down the dance music route he'll soon have a set that would go down a treat. Also, I've just done the maths & it marks the 30th time I've seen Andy perform live
I forgot to mention, he played the outro to Waterfall on one song, and there was a young Japanese girl down the front in a BDI 2011 Japan tour t-shirt, the legend of BDI lives forever.

Went to a gig last night in Bermondsey (another first). Was down an industrial estate at a place called Avalon Cafe. Tiny space, barely a stage & was fucking packed + everyone was about 20 years old so I probably looked like a creepy old nonce but oh well. Frank Lloyd Wleft opened, set was a mixed bag. Could have done without the 5 minute poetry reading he did in the middle, but a few promising tunes & the addition of a sax to the band really helped bring the tunes to life.
In Tongues headlined, 3rd time seeing them & it was definitely a step up from their Moth club gig a few weeks back. I think they could really use a bass player, at the moment a guy plays the bass parts on a synth, which works fine, but due to this he doesn't add enough synth. Still, solid band with some real potential

Awaiting Kev's next review, "went to Roundhouse last night with Popular Forum Creepy Old Nonce Mahoney....."

Was supposed to see Sea Power in Kingston last night, but went to leave the house only to realise all the trains out of TCOTU that way were cancelled so gave it a miss, I'm seeing them monday so it isn't the end of the world. Went along to the Victoria in Dalston instead. Curtsy & Cry opened, pretty horrible two piece rock band that sounded like something from about 2006. Kyoto Kyoto were the main act I wanted to see, they've a EP/mini record which is pretty solid out now. 3 piece with a basic setup of guitar/bass/drums, but their music has a danceable-driving quality to it. Vocals are in German too. Cool set, they have a couple of songs where it gets almost metal which isn't my thing, but they make a hell of a noise for a 3-piece. The singer I'm pretty sure plays guitar in Butch Kassidy who are another band I like.

Cassels headlined, I'd heard their record and though I wasn't too arsed I thought they might be fun live. Didn't know they were just a 2-piece. We've reached the point where we are getting the 2nd round of these modern talky vocals post-punk bands. It's as if they've taken a few bits from what's popular and gone for a RAWK version. I left after about 4 songs, their inbetween song chatter was just awful. Plus I noticed an old man in an Idles t-shirt in attendance, always a sign the band are wrongons.