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satyricaI went to a gig at the Spice of Life, three Saturdays ago, which I always find an odd venue, downstairs from this busy, quite touristy Soho pub. I arrived during Caezium, a kinda pseudo-American rock [think Kings of Leon] three-piece; I was more appreciative of Feral Youth (“dreamy grunge”), who had come up from Brighton and were supporting along with Oshens (“beach punk”): I was there for the crescendoing psychedelia of Wuuad who seemed more confident and accomplished than when I last caught them.
On the Sunday we had our off-season Empire group meet-up: I had a pretty flakey time last year, only making it to two events and being ill for one of those, so my keen is fairly absent but I like my group so will give it another shot. N then swooped down to pick me up in the van and we went up to Belsize Park to snatch a cup of tea together before I wandered down into Camden and met up with Josh and some mates, careening around a few pubs before heading into the Jazz Café to see Macka B, my first ever reggae gig I think, lots of dancing and the kind of gloriously random night I wish I had more of.
I had a tough couple of days getting back to work from holiday: nothing awful, just too much to try to fit in, but luckily some evenings in to help cope with it, then on the Wednesday I headed down to the Lexington, not all that late but I’d already missed the support (The Americas, who I’d have been happy to see again): I was there for The Blinders who elevate their dark sound with a mesmerising energy. The next night I was at the Borderline (with a superabundance of company, compared to my usual solo outings), where we first saw Orchards but were there for Indoor Pets, re-named from Get Inuit but having lost none of their goofy charm.
After work on Friday I headed down to Woking for what was supposed to be a murder mystery for K’s birthday but she’d had some more health issues so I just hung out at L&A’s, which was really nice itself: we played Dominion and had home-made pizza, although between the fish-tank and early-rising kids I didn’t sleep much. I played with them a bit in the morning then walked over to my brother’s, where Mum & Dad had also been staying: I stayed and chatted to them whilst A went out with the girls, then Dad drove me down to Guildford to see Granny, although she mostly just wanted to sleep and I didn’t stay long.
I got back to London in time to head home for a bit before heading back out to The Borderline (once again with C) to see Gaz Brookfield doing a rare full-band show. He was supported, in comfortingly familiar style, by Chris Webb, then Nick Parker, then blasted out his songs for about an hour-and-a-half, the crowd singing along with every word: it did make me realise, for all the young bands I go to see and do like, they do not come near the enjoyment I get from that full-throated unity.
On the Sunday we had our off-season Empire group meet-up: I had a pretty flakey time last year, only making it to two events and being ill for one of those, so my keen is fairly absent but I like my group so will give it another shot. N then swooped down to pick me up in the van and we went up to Belsize Park to snatch a cup of tea together before I wandered down into Camden and met up with Josh and some mates, careening around a few pubs before heading into the Jazz Café to see Macka B, my first ever reggae gig I think, lots of dancing and the kind of gloriously random night I wish I had more of.
I had a tough couple of days getting back to work from holiday: nothing awful, just too much to try to fit in, but luckily some evenings in to help cope with it, then on the Wednesday I headed down to the Lexington, not all that late but I’d already missed the support (The Americas, who I’d have been happy to see again): I was there for The Blinders who elevate their dark sound with a mesmerising energy. The next night I was at the Borderline (with a superabundance of company, compared to my usual solo outings), where we first saw Orchards but were there for Indoor Pets, re-named from Get Inuit but having lost none of their goofy charm.
After work on Friday I headed down to Woking for what was supposed to be a murder mystery for K’s birthday but she’d had some more health issues so I just hung out at L&A’s, which was really nice itself: we played Dominion and had home-made pizza, although between the fish-tank and early-rising kids I didn’t sleep much. I played with them a bit in the morning then walked over to my brother’s, where Mum & Dad had also been staying: I stayed and chatted to them whilst A went out with the girls, then Dad drove me down to Guildford to see Granny, although she mostly just wanted to sleep and I didn’t stay long.
I got back to London in time to head home for a bit before heading back out to The Borderline (once again with C) to see Gaz Brookfield doing a rare full-band show. He was supported, in comfortingly familiar style, by Chris Webb, then Nick Parker, then blasted out his songs for about an hour-and-a-half, the crowd singing along with every word: it did make me realise, for all the young bands I go to see and do like, they do not come near the enjoyment I get from that full-throated unity.
