rate the last gig you went to

My beloved Sadies the other night, for the first time since Dallas Good died. It was somehow both amazing and heartbreaking at the same time, as while Travis did a great job of filling in the parts that his brother did on guitar, a lot of what made them amazing was the interplay between the two of them, so there was a large hole there. They brought out the opening act for a bunch of songs at the end that filled in the sound a bit, but…it wasn’t the same. 7/10

Wednesday at TCOTU's premier gay club HEAVEN with popular forum member KRBURG

JOCKSTRAP released a great record that contained a couple of my favourite tunes last year. They perform as a two-piece with the Boris Johnson looking ginge on synths/drum machines & the violinist from BCNR on vocals and occasional guitar/violin. Georgia is in full pop star mode, completely different from seeing her looking bored in BCNR that's for sure. Good hour long set, I think if they cut the slower material out they'll have a banging 40 minute set for the festivals this summer. Not sure I'd pay to see them again until they have another record out but this was a lot of fun & better than I had expected.

Support came from PABLOPABLO, a Spanish solo performer using keyboards & occasional guitar with a load of really fucking awful autotune on the vocals. It was one of the most painful things I've had to endure for some time (other than Columbia Rocks Man's soapbox posts!)

Pastel / Afflecks Palace @ the Mash House, Edinburgh

A good pal of mine has gone tee-total after some issues with the bevvy. As Mahoney knows, gigs are an activity you can enjoy sober. So I agreed to attend this gig at my pal's suggestion, despite having some misgivings about the headliner.

Pastel were good - I wasn't familiar with them beforehand but they created a proper dense noise. They can't decide if they want to be Oasis covering Spacemen 3 or My Bloody Valentine covering Oasis. But it was enjoyable to watch. The venue was rammed for their set and promptly half-emptied when they finished.

Afflecks Palace are one of the worst bands I have ever seen. Unlike Mahoney, I don't feel the need to keep a detailed spreadsheet of every gig I've attended. But I've seen a lot in 23 years and this shower were in the worst one per cent. I have nothing inherently against bands in the 2020s that remain obsessed with Madchester, but there was something particularly nauseating about this lot. The frontman looks like an unemployed butcher who has decided he wants to be Ian Brown. Unfortunately, he's ugly as sin and makes Browno sound like Pavarotti. He wore a bucket hat and cheap shades throughout this short set (I walked out before the end, something I never usually do). It was a club venue and already dark. He must have been effectively blind. It's a shame he didn't walk into a wall or fall down a flight of steps.

The "Madchester" revival is fine when it's harmless nostalgia and cheap clubnights playing the Flood mix of Come Home. When it begins producing shite like this, it's time to call a halt.

Two fantastic bands. Sounds like a great night Chrissie. Where is your score out of ten?

I also noticed the lack of numbers within the thread. Very surprising.

Pastel get a 7.
Afflecks Palace get 1 out of 10, a point for managing to stand up and breathe at the same time

If you didn’t drink so much you wouldn’t struggle with these simple actions. Try Lemonade, it’s refreshing and a healthier option

Hey Karl tell me more about that pensioner filmmaker who plays in a vanity band

I’d love to but It’s a bit high brow for someone that spends their weekends watching men in bucket hats pretending it’s 1990 again!

Fake edit: the first gig I went to was THE STONES in 1998 aged 12 so yeah, I’ve been going to gigs for 25 years, not 23!

No wonder my hearing is shot to pieces

I didn't realise there was an option to spend weekends doing anything other than this?

LADY GAGA - CHROMATICA BALL

12/10

hi folks im lamarrkx

I lost a bit of interest in noelgallagher lately 😬

Last night at Rough Trade East with popular forum member KRBURG

JEANIE WHITE opened up, solo piano ballad thing. It was FINE, but unless I have seats I don't ever want solo piano things supporting. Loses marks for dreadful BANTZ
MORGAN NOISE was up next. Seen them/her perform at the Windmill the other year and it was a mixed bag in terms of quality and styles. The sound is all over the place but it's fresh enough to remain interesting. Still a work in progress but definitely a lot of talent.
GHOST CAR topped the bill. Originally got tickets for the combo of GHOST CAR & "O" but for some reason they didn't play. Anyway, Ghost Car are just a fucking shit load of fun live. Sort of garage meets indie-rock, big upbeat numbers & they look like they're having a blast belting them out. On record they're fine, but live I can't help but enjoy.

Aircooled at the Lexington on Saturday night. With popular forum member KrBurg.

Support came from Miki Berenyi (Lush), with her guitarist and Ollie from Aircooled on bass and some recorded drums. I don't know Lush at all but the packed crowd (of mostly middle aged men) clearly did and she/they went down a storm. I enjoyed it despite not knowing a single song. From the onstage bants it's clear she'd be good to go for a pint with. Oh, and her teenage son was in the crowd down front.

The crowd thinned out between sets and I was a bit worried that most people had come for the support but it filled back up and Aircooled put on a great show. They only have 5 or 6 songs but 4 of them are over 8 mins with a couple of those coming in at over 15 mins.

They are a motorik, krauty type affair but less serious than your typical bands of that ilk and i've seen them described as motorik with disco frills and that sums them up about right.

They have a very solid rhythm section in Justin Welch (ex Elastica) on drums and Katharine Wallinger (ex Wedding Present) on bass. Riz Maslen has one set of keys and some vocal and a lady I don't know on the Korg. Oliver Cherer is on guitar, keys and vocals and is the de facto front man.

It was only their 5th or 6th ever gig bit was as tight as anything and they have gathered some industry attention over the last few months getting some 6music play and a support slot on the Scottish dates on Suede's upcoming tour.

A special mention needs to go to the Lexington IPA which left me pretty useless by the end of the night and I haven't the foggiest how I got home.

Another mention needs to go to the Lexington itself, which has to be TCOTU's best venue.

And finally a nod to KrBurg, who was on splendid form.

Mike Berenyi 7/10
Aircooled 9/10
Lexington IPA 9/10
The Lexington 10/10
Kevin Burgess 10/10

yesterday I went to Dash the Henge, a record store in Camberwell & met up with popular forum member KRBURG to see CHILDREN OF THE POPE. Was good, though they was a member down which limited what they could do a bit. Was a lot less ramshackle and more song based than when I saw them before. Still nice stuff, though definitely want to catch them as a 4 piece again soon.

Then went to the Lexington to continue the day of garage-rock.

THE SHADRACKS opened, seen them a bunch of times, I think each time I like them a little bit less. They're fine, did the job.

THE WILDEBEESTS were up next, featuring Big Russ Wilkins of Pop Rivets/Thee Milkshakes fame. This was fucking banging, proper old school authentic garage-rock, some covers of Garageland, Mongoloid & GLORIA thrown in for good measure. I'm a complete sucker for this stuff

WILD BILLY CHILDISH & CTMF headlined. It was glorious. Despite a broken string early on Billy only spent maybe 5 or 6 minutes tuning guitars which was a relief. Great set too, I'm used to these garage-rock gigs being the same setlists every time but there was some new stuff and some obscurities (DATE WITH DOUG!) + a cover of The Clash's What's My Name. Though highlights were all the guests they ended up having on stage. Bruce Brand & big Russ joining for a mini Pop Rivets reunion of Whatcha Gonna Do About then two of the HEADCOATEES joining them all for the usual finish of WILD MAN & Davey Crockett. Great fucking night tbh

Seen a few shows lately but not feel like rating them. Live music is pretty great though