Saturday I saw The Fallen Women's annual Christmas gig at the Lexington. All female band doing covers of The Fall with members of the audience singing + guests. They had members of Earl Brutus, Lush, Luke Haines, Stewart Lee & the singer from mother fucking Chumbawamba do vocals fun night.
Last night was (probably) the last gig of the year. Spent with popular forum member Krburg, a Christmas party put on by end of the road festival at The Lexington. Tapir opened, dressed for the occasion. Love love love this band. Bingo Fury were decent, 2nd time seeing them, I like parts of their set. Potentially could make a good record, time will see. Night was ended by PVA, short but banging set that ended with the audience on the stage singing Last Christmas. A nice way to end the year.
Last night I saw my first gig in over a month, VANITY TAPES featuring popular forum member KRBURG on bass duty. It was WILD. THE VIOLENT LIGHTS were some old dudes doing PUNK ROCK a bit New York Dolls/early Alice Cooper. Was alright THE YES MESS.. YES, A BAND CALLED THE YES MESS. I'LL SAY NO MORE.
last night at THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS with popular forum member KRBURG BUGGS - they were... fine? Like a less energetic Pip Blom. COWBOYY - these looked about 12 years old, did a weird intense mix of math rock, experimental rock with metal riffs thrown in It sounds awful on paper & there was a few moments where I think it actually was, but then there was impressive moments too. Talented band, will keep an eye out even though I'm not sure they'll be my cup of tea DILETTANTE - utter, utter cunts. Just the worst type of vomit educing bollocks. Asking the soundguy how long they have left then saying "can we please please please play 2 more?" fuck off. Spent half the gig moaning about their in-ear monitors not working, you're at the shacklewell arms FFS plug in and play. God I hope I never have to hear them again JOYERIA topped the bill. I believe they won last years EP of the year on my list. They only did about 25 minutes but what a 25 minutes it was. Banging set, really like the electric sounds that are peppered in. Hope they do a record this year, I'm ready for more
last night at STUDIO 9294 with popular forum member KRBURG
BO GRITZ opened the night. Enjoyed about half their set before it became a little tiresome. A 3 piece doing an aggressive punchy post-punk thing.
GHOST CAR were up next. I'd seen them a couple of times opening for Amyl & the Sniffers in 2018/19 & they were fine, but kinda forgettable. Really surprised by them here, they've come up with lots of memorable tunes since then & were just full of energy. I got Breeders meets Le Tigre kinda vibes from the material they're playing now. A lot of fun, will definitely catch them again soon.
THE COOL GREENHOUSE headlined their biggest show yet. Was a good turnout, though Ghost Car were added late so I'm not sure how many bought a ticket for them,but still nice to see a packed audience. Also visible was what me and Kevin refer to as The BBC6 Music Dad's turning up to the show. I don't mean that as an insult, you just notice when a band reaches a certain level of popularity the old geezers turn up that have discovered all these bands on Radio and need something to do now Mark E Smith is dead. Cool Greenhouse were of course bloody great, sound was mixed really well & the new material sounded great alongside the debut stuff, even did a new tune which sounded ace. Hopefully they can tour a bit more this year and perhaps get on the festival circuit & be able to do a bigger venue next time if they make another record.
Last night at THE LITTLE MEDWAY THEATRE in Rochester, a night of folk, blues & poetry with WILD BILLY CHILDISH with no popular forum members.
This was really great. A member of The Singing Loins passed away last year, they're a Chatham folk band that Billy made one of his best ever records with in the early 90s. This was a sort of tribute night to the fallen member. Billy did a poetry reading as well as Medway poet Bill Lewis. The singing Loins did a set before being joined by Billy. I've seen Billy loads over the years, I love him but god bless him he plays the same bloody songs EVERY TIME. Well tonight was an absolute joy, they did about half a dozen from At the Bridge + a load from the new record. Billy then played with The Chatham Singers which is essentially the same lineup he always has but with Bludy Jim on harp. Nice to see Billy do a blues set, did a bunch of stuff I never thought I'd hear him do including a couple from In Blood, the record he made with Holly Golightly. Really special night. The theatre felt like it hadn't been updated since the 1950s, beautiful little place.
Last night at THE MOTH CUB in Hackney "DAVID BYRNE'S NIGHT" with popular forum member KBRBURG
A host of mostly TCOTU bands collaborating under joke names such as The Side Byrne's, Carpet Byrne's & Byrne After Reading performing the songs of David Byrne. Featured members of the likes of PVA, Goat Girl, Shame, Sports Team, Tapir!, Regressive Left, Ash Kenazi, Dead Letter, Golden Dreggs + a load more The bands seemed for the most part well rehearsed other than a few vocal mishaps. A fun night.
Last night @ ROUGH TRADE EAST with popular forum member KRBURG HOTEL LUX. A band who showed some great early promise, I kept thinking damn they could really turn into something great & make a brilliant record one day! Well, they've just released their debut album and it isn't very good at all! They did 45 minutes, all from the new record and it sounded (for the most part) much better, Bill Ryder-Jones production on the record is terrible. Still, there's still no excuse for some of the terrible backing vocals, nor for the bloody acoustic song. A damn shame.
Young Fathers supported by Maria Uzor at Norwich Arts Centre for 6music's independent venue week with Steve Lamacq.
Uzor was banging. Loved her EP but this was my first time seeing her live solo despite being a stalwart of the Norwich scene for many years.
Young Fathers played their first gig in 4 years and brought real energy. Was only a short set playing just under an hour but played all the old stuff I'd hoped to hear along with some tracks from the new album out Friday. Top night.
Weyes Blood at Le Trianon in Montmartre, Paris last night.
Pretty sensational to be honest.
Cracking venue, great sound and she has perhaps the best pure singing voice I've ever seen live.
There were a few little theatrical flourishes that worked superbly and a really enthusiastic and responsive Saturday night crowd.
Some moments (Movies and God Turn Me Into a Flower especially) were pretty jaw dropping and borderline tearjerking. A kind of cross between Karen Carpenter and Bjork.
I think the best gig I've been to in a couple of years. 10/10.
It finally happened. Ride and THE CHARLIES in Montreal the other night. I have been dealing with a bad flare up of gout this week and my car also died, so just getting there was a nightmare. Got to the venue and found out THE CHARLIES were on first, so I went up to the balcony and got a decent seat. They were playing all of ‘between 10th and 11th’ which was certainly…a choice. That was fine and the band was tight and Tim was Tim, but they did a run of hits at the end, which was fantastic. Glad I’ve finally gotten to see THE CHARLIES. 8/10
Glad I saved what was left of my foot to go down on the floor right in front of Andy for Ride to see them play all of ‘nowhere’. Holy fuck, what a performance. They were up for it and Andy in particular was really pushing his playing, just riveting. And then an unreleased new song and leave them all behind. What a night. 10/10
(Incidentally, apparently they’re going back and forth with who is closing every night, but I heard multiple people saying “who is ride?” before the show. Fuck them.)
I promised JP i would return to the thread and review every gig i attend in 2023, so here goes.
1. Vanity Tapes / Violent Lights / The Yess Mess - New Cross Inn - 23rd Jan Popular Forum Members in attendance: Karl 'mahoney' Mahoney.
The Yes Mess - Pretty forgettable acoustic trio, two singers, both really annoying. Rating: 3/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens- 5/10
Violent Lights - All four members looked like they should be in different bands, obviously all lead by some bloke in his mid 50's still living the dream and shredding out some bog standard punk riffs Rating: 4/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 4/10
Vanity Tapes - I play bass therefore no rating Rating: N/A The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 3.5/5
2. Joyeria / Dilettante / Cowboyy - The Shacklewell Arms - 25th Jan Popular Forum Members in attendance: Karl 'mahoney' Mahoney.
Cowboyy - They all look about 15, were clearly teenage metal fans who've recently discovered Black Midi, but their parents were into Van Halen. A mess of virtuoso guitar shredding with time shifts, but no taste. Main guitarist/singer was finger tapping without an ounce of irony; could potentially grow into something better if they reined it in. Rating: 4/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 1/10
Dilettante - Horrible, horrible, insufferable cunts. They were using in ear monitors at the fucking Shacklewell Arms and couldn't get them to work. Singer was using a loop pedal to create harmonies that were so pointless to the songs. Bass player needs shooting. They were so pleased with themselves. Complained about how expensive it was to travel down from Manchester. Please never bother again, stay up North. Rating: 0.5/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 1/10
Joyeria - Saw them for the first time just before Christmas and was surprised by how well it came across live, I like the EP but it's so much better live. Especially the longer sort of groove based songs, work much better live. Only played for 25/30 mins, so hope for more in the future. Rating: 8/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 6/10
3. The Cool Greenhouse / Ghost Car / Bo Gritz- Studio 9294 - 26th Jan Popular Forum Members in attendance: Karl 'mahoney' Mahoney.
Bo Gritz - Missed the first couple of songs, but pretty forgettable. Sort of on the heavy, industrial side of Post-Punk. Rating: 3/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 2/10
Ghost Car - Loads of fun! Seen them once before a few years back in a support slot, but didn't really remember much about them, but this was good fun. A little bit meat and potatoes in terms of music style, kind of have a bit of a late 80's/early 90's riot grrrl thing going on. Have tried the record since, and it didn't do loads for me. But will be seeing them live again, soon. Rating: 7/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 7/10
The Cool Greenhouse - As you would expect, they seem to get better every time I see them and the more they play; a much bigger and fuller sound these days. Set of new album and old album songs, felt like a big gig for them and they delivered. Rating: 8/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 5/10
4. David Byrne Night - Moth Club - 28th Jan Popular Forum Members in attendance: Karl 'mahoney' Mahoney.
Various Artists - A coterie of TCOTU based bands and musicians (Goat Girl, PVA, Tapir, Shame, Golden Dreggs, Regressive Left, Deadletter, Honeyglaze etc.. ) collaborating to make up a handful of different bands to play Talking Heads and David Byrne songs and celebrate Burns Night. Was actually considerably better than I was expecting, usually with these sorts of things it's bit last minute and amateurish, but each band did four or five songs and were clearly well rehearsed; compered by Ash Kenazi to a packed Moth Club on a Saturday night. Rating: 8/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 5/10
5. Hotel Lux - Rough Trade East - 30th Jan Popular Forum Members in attendance: Karl 'mahoney' Mahoney.
Hotel Lux - In store to promote the underwhelming debut album, though I think I'm a little warmer to it than others. They just played the album front to back, definitely worked better live. I have loads of good will for this band, they never really seem to do the right thing, but they have the ability to knock out a really great tune. I always enjoy them live because of the amateurish nature of what they do. Rating: 7/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 3/10
6. Tapir! / The Last Whole Earth Catalogue / Salome Wu - The Social - 2nd Feb Popular Forum Members in attendance: Karl 'mahoney' Mahoney.
Salome Wu - This was their first gig I think, really like parts of it and some others parts not so much; a couple of really strong songs in there, was getting a 90's alt rock, even Mazzy Starr feel on a couple. Will keep an eye out. Rating: 6/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 5/10
The Last Whole Earth Catalogue - The name alone tells you all you need to know about them. A bit of a mixed bag in terms of sound, I suppose spacious americana in places, maybe like Slint for a couple of songs, they had a couple of chugging VU guitar sounding tunes that were definitely the only tolerable bits, but again, they were really insufferable cunts. At one point the singer asked the crowd not to clap after the next song and just say 'No' and then later got a book out and 'told a joke'. euurrghh Rating: 2/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 4/10
Tapir! - Feels like they're getting some attention now, though the Social is tiny, it was packed in there; could definitely feel like there were probably some label A&R people down there. Funnily enough the sound wasn't great for them, especially the songs with the drum machine, but they were still great. The singer's voice was the saving grace from a sound point, that was actually mixed really nicely and soared above the band. Rating: 8/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 7/10
7. Ugly / Blue Bendy - Moth Club - 4th Feb Popular Forum Members in attendance: N/A
Blue Bendy - See these a handful of times live over a number of years and am a big fan, though they've not really managed to capture the live sound on record yet. I like to think of them as 'lounge Beefheart'; they have weird songs with weird structures and odd time and then the singer is almost crooning on top; though he seems to have hardened his delivery of late and a lot of the new songs don't have quite as a jittery Beefheart stucture as when i first saw them. They were added last minute, so only did 25 mins, apparently left the studio to do the gig and were finishing their debut the next day. They get better each time, but this felt last minute and a little short. Rating: 7/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 2/10
Ugly - Ugly indeed! I liked a single they put out last year and turns out they've been around for a some years, but have never really done much. At the time I thought they had a touch of BCNR and it turns out the Drummer from BCNR was in this band years ago. I assume they're mates with that lot and I assume they're probably back/making a push on that connection. This was horrible though; really annoying people, like a charmless and tuneless BCNR, songs just did nothing and they all seemed to be well pleased with themselves. I'm sure the crowd were made up of people like me who had made that connection and thought they'd give them a go. I lasted four songs before walking out of my first gig since the Drums at Heaven in 2010. Rating: 1/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 0.5/10
Saturday at THE NEW CROSS INN with no popular forum members
KING SALAMI AND THE CUMBERLAND THREE. TCOTU's premium part-time garage/rock n roll band put on a masterclass of joy. I left the support bands to go in the pub over the road as it was TOO LOUD, YEAH.
I promised JP i would return to the thread and review every gig i attend in 2023, so here goes.
1. Vanity Tapes / Violent Lights / The Yess Mess - New Cross Inn - 23rd Jan Popular Forum Members in attendance: Karl 'mahoney' Mahoney.
The Yes Mess - Pretty forgettable acoustic trio, two singers, both really annoying. Rating: 3/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens- 5/10
Violent Lights - All four members looked like they should be in different bands, obviously all lead by some bloke in his mid 50's still living the dream and shredding out some bog standard punk riffs Rating: 4/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 4/10
Vanity Tapes - I play bass therefore no rating Rating: N/A The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 3.5/5
2. Joyeria / Dilettante / Cowboyy - The Shacklewell Arms - 25th Jan Popular Forum Members in attendance: Karl 'mahoney' Mahoney.
Cowboyy - They all look about 15, were clearly teenage metal fans who've recently discovered Black Midi, but their parents were into Van Halen. A mess of virtuoso guitar shredding with time shifts, but no taste. Main guitarist/singer was finger tapping without an ounce of irony; could potentially grow into something better if they reined it in. Rating: 4/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 1/10
Dilettante - Horrible, horrible, insufferable cunts. They were using in ear monitors at the fucking Shacklewell Arms and couldn't get them to work. Singer was using a loop pedal to create harmonies that were so pointless to the songs. Bass player needs shooting. They were so pleased with themselves. Complained about how expensive it was to travel down from Manchester. Please never bother again, stay up North. Rating: 0.5/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 1/10
Joyeria - Saw them for the first time just before Christmas and was surprised by how well it came across live, I like the EP but it's so much better live. Especially the longer sort of groove based songs, work much better live. Only played for 25/30 mins, so hope for more in the future. Rating: 8/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 6/10
3. The Cool Greenhouse / Ghost Car / Bo Gritz- Studio 9294 - 26th Jan Popular Forum Members in attendance: Karl 'mahoney' Mahoney.
Bo Gritz - Missed the first couple of songs, but pretty forgettable. Sort of on the heavy, industrial side of Post-Punk. Rating: 3/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 2/10
Ghost Car - Loads of fun! Seen them once before a few years back in a support slot, but didn't really remember much about them, but this was good fun. A little bit meat and potatoes in terms of music style, kind of have a bit of a late 80's/early 90's riot grrrl thing going on. Have tried the record since, and it didn't do loads for me. But will be seeing them live again, soon. Rating: 7/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 7/10
The Cool Greenhouse - As you would expect, they seem to get better every time I see them and the more they play; a much bigger and fuller sound these days. Set of new album and old album songs, felt like a big gig for them and they delivered. Rating: 8/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 5/10
4. David Byrne Night - Moth Club - 28th Jan Popular Forum Members in attendance: Karl 'mahoney' Mahoney.
Various Artists - A coterie of TCOTU based bands and musicians (Goat Girl, PVA, Tapir, Shame, Golden Dreggs, Regressive Left, Deadletter, Honeyglaze etc.. ) collaborating to make up a handful of different bands to play Talking Heads and David Byrne songs and celebrate Burns Night. Was actually considerably better than I was expecting, usually with these sorts of things it's bit last minute and amateurish, but each band did four or five songs and were clearly well rehearsed; compered by Ash Kenazi to a packed Moth Club on a Saturday night. Rating: 8/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 5/10
5. Hotel Lux - Rough Trade East - 30th Jan Popular Forum Members in attendance: Karl 'mahoney' Mahoney.
Hotel Lux - In store to promote the underwhelming debut album, though I think I'm a little warmer to it than others. They just played the album front to back, definitely worked better live. I have loads of good will for this band, they never really seem to do the right thing, but they have the ability to knock out a really great tune. I always enjoy them live because of the amateurish nature of what they do. Rating: 7/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 3/10
6. Tapir! / The Last Whole Earth Catalogue / Salome Wu - The Social - 2nd Feb Popular Forum Members in attendance: Karl 'mahoney' Mahoney.
Salome Wu - This was their first gig I think, really like parts of it and some others parts not so much; a couple of really strong songs in there, was getting a 90's alt rock, even Mazzy Starr feel on a couple. Will keep an eye out. Rating: 6/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 5/10
The Last Whole Earth Catalogue - The name alone tells you all you need to know about them. A bit of a mixed bag in terms of sound, I suppose spacious americana in places, maybe like Slint for a couple of songs, they had a couple of chugging VU guitar sounding tunes that were definitely the only tolerable bits, but again, they were really insufferable cunts. At one point the singer asked the crowd not to clap after the next song and just say 'No' and then later got a book out and 'told a joke'. euurrghh Rating: 2/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 4/10
Tapir! - Feels like they're getting some attention now, though the Social is tiny, it was packed in there; could definitely feel like there were probably some label A&R people down there. Funnily enough the sound wasn't great for them, especially the songs with the drum machine, but they were still great. The singer's voice was the saving grace from a sound point, that was actually mixed really nicely and soared above the band. Rating: 8/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 7/10
7. Ugly / Blue Bendy - Moth Club - 4th Feb Popular Forum Members in attendance: N/A
Blue Bendy - See these a handful of times live over a number of years and am a big fan, though they've not really managed to capture the live sound on record yet. I like to think of them as 'lounge Beefheart'; they have weird songs with weird structures and odd time and then the singer is almost crooning on top; though he seems to have hardened his delivery of late and a lot of the new songs don't have quite as a jittery Beefheart stucture as when i first saw them. They were added last minute, so only did 25 mins, apparently left the studio to do the gig and were finishing their debut the next day. They get better each time, but this felt last minute and a little short. Rating: 7/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 2/10
Ugly - Ugly indeed! I liked a single they put out last year and turns out they've been around for a some years, but have never really done much. At the time I thought they had a touch of BCNR and it turns out the Drummer from BCNR was in this band years ago. I assume they're mates with that lot and I assume they're probably back/making a push on that connection. This was horrible though; really annoying people, like a charmless and tuneless BCNR, songs just did nothing and they all seemed to be well pleased with themselves. I'm sure the crowd were made up of people like me who had made that connection and thought they'd give them a go. I lasted four songs before walking out of my first gig since the Drums at Heaven in 2010. Rating: 1/10 The Rod 'forever' MacNeill Rating Lens - 0.5/10
And they're called Dilettante. That should be enough to remove the 0.5 you generously gave them. They sound like truly terrible cunts.
last night at the Scala with popular forum member KRBURG
SQUID: Great set, they did 2/3rds new material. They released a new single this week which I'm a bit indifferent about, but damn the rest of the new material sounded pretty damn good. Huge version of Narrator thrown in too. Good stuff QUADE: 3rd time seeing these as support band. I really hope I never have to see them again. Tedious bollocks. They've added a 4th member and somehow have become even more aimless than they already was.
Met up for a pint with popular forum member TITCH, incredible scenes Then went to EARTH with popular forum member KRBURG. I've hated EARTH the couple of times I've been, but this was in the theatre part upstairs & it's bloody glorious up there. A women called DRUM & LACE (nice name LOL!!) supported. I often sit in bed and cry over the low number of streams The Jesus Abyss pull but then I realise how influential I've become, everyone is copying my hugely original sound. SQÜRL, which is film director GOD Jim Jarmusch's project with some other herbert performed original scores to 4 short MAN RAY films. I was thrilled just to see Jim Jarmusch on stage, what an honour, shocking to think he's now 70 years old, the white hair and sunglasses has made him feel TIMELESS. Anyway, it was pretty damn fucking good. Especially when Jim went Crazy Horse ARC era on the guitar. Also saw my old pal Bobby Gillespie at the bar, he looked confused.
Popped over to the SHACKLEWELL ARMS swiftly after as the gig ended early so catch whatever was on incase it was any good. They were called BINDY & they was not good. We left after a quick drink as Kevin has a dog named Kevin to look after.
Met up for a pint with popular forum member TITCH, incredible scenes Then went to EARTH with popular forum member KRBURG. I've hated EARTH the couple of times I've been, but this was in the theatre part upstairs & it's bloody glorious up there. A women called DRUM & LACE (nice name LOL!!) supported. I often sit in bed and cry over the low number of streams The Jesus Abyss pull but then I realise how influential I've become, everyone is copying my hugely original sound. SQÜRL, which is film director GOD Jim Jarmusch's project with some other herbert performed original scores to 4 short MAN RAY films. I was thrilled just to see Jim Jarmusch on stage, what an honour, shocking to think he's now 70 years old, the white hair and sunglasses has made him feel TIMELESS. Anyway, it was pretty damn fucking good. Especially when Jim went Crazy Horse ARC era on the guitar. Also saw my old pal Bobby Gillespie at the bar, he looked confused.
Popped over to the SHACKLEWELL ARMS swiftly after as the gig ended early so catch whatever was on incase it was any good. They were called BINDY & they was not good. We left after a quick drink as Kevin has a dog named Kevin to look after.
A Dog Named Kevin sounds like a gritty British independent film.
fun night. 
