Gigs.

Got tickets for Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew next year doing Talking Heads " Remain in Light " ... Cannae wait

It was a gig-tastic night in Manchester last night. We went to see 808 State at New Century Hall, but met up with some mates for beers beforehand who were off to see Shed Seven at Victoria Warehouse, then got the tram back afterwards with some other mates who'd been to see the Human League at the Arena

808 were awesome! The place was absolutely bouncing. Literally, as New Century Hall has a sprung dancefloor. First ever gig I've been to there and its a great venue. It was to mark the 35th anniversary of the release of 90. How old do you feel now? The place was full of old ravers and the atmosphere was absolutely fantastic!

That'd be quality. Did they invite Tunes this time?

“Anyone else getting completely hacked off with the amount of talking/SHOUTING at gigs?…

Most of the gigs I go to these days are either too loud for it to make a difference, or the audience are too respectful. There have been some in the past where I’ve told people to just shut the phük up, or leave, one gig in Bath, it was John Martyn playing*, and there was a group of four people who spent the whole time in a little square looking at each other and talking, so at the end I asked if they’d enjoyed it. When they said they had, I said, well that’s odd, because all evening you’ve done nothing but stand yakking and pissing off everyone else, turned and walked away. Assholes.

Next gig I’ve got tickets for is Throwing Muses at The Fleece in Bristol, next March; nice little venue, and they always put on a good show. I think I might make an exception to the unwritten rule of not wearing a tour tee shirt of the band your seeing, and dig out my ‘The Real Ramona’ tee from when I saw them in Bristol back in the 90’s.

* And he wasn’t completely shitfaced.

Jason Isbell

It was a few weeks ago now but over the course of a week I saw Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit in Antwerp, Edinburgh, and finally Stockton on tees. All fantastic gigs and the tightness you'd expect from Isbell and band.

However, the setlists were very similar and there was a sense that they were going through the motions with little dialogue throughout.

The difference between gigs came down to the venue and crowd........

- Antwerp De Roma - lovely 1930s cinema with great acoustics. However, for a Saturday night, the crowd were tame and talked over the support act (SG Goodman) which was somewhat rude. The band had minimal chat, started early, and left the stage having played one less song than every other date on the tour. I reckon they had a tight turnaround and needed to be on the road prompt after the show.

- Edinburgh Usher Hall giving the best sound, reception from the crowd, and feedback from the band, which was impressive given it was a wednesday night. The whole band seemed to enjoy this night so much more and really fed off the enthusiastic Scottish audience.

Stockton Globe Theatre - Lovely venue. Great performance and experience right at the front of the stage. Similar setlist to Antwerp but more responsive audience which made all the difference.

The setlists were roughly 3/4 the same for all 3 gigs with a rotation of other tracks on top. Sadly no covers.

Perhaps overkill, but an interesting experience to see the same band 3 times in a week, though I'm obviously something of a fan.

If you're vaguely into rock/Americana, or just seriously good guitar skills and song writing, I insist you give Isbell a go!

Hi all. I can't make the knife party gig in Bristol next Saturday (14th). I have 2x free tickets.  Message me if you want them.

Northwind
That’d be quality. Did they invite Tunes this time?

yeah MC Tunes was there for the last tune of the night. Nice surprise to end a great gig.  I drove down from Windermere with my brother in law and his lad just for this gig! A long night but well worth it 

anagallis_arvensis are you small or far away?

It's just that Miles Hunt is a giant amongst us!!

Last night in Bristol

Just back from Limehouse Lizzy.... distinctly average....one guitarist who wasn't really bothered and the other seems to be confused in that apparently Thin Lizzy were a shred metal band..........

Seeing El Hornet and Goldie tomorrow (Sat) in sunny Perf.

Well its into Kings Norton in Brum for what may be the last Draculas Garage at The Tower of Song.Bands there are Blank Generation and Spitting Feathers. Then into O Bar on Broad Street for The Fearless Scoundrels 6.30pm.

Other gigs are Dereck and The Checkmates at Chas Mann in Kings Norton 3pm, Taxi For Jesus at The Brasshouse 3.30pm and Just Doing It 6.30pm at Snobs.

Gigs of the year have been last months Draculas Garage with The Silhouettes,Boo Tikis and Mandelbrot Shakes. The other one was Tin Tent Festival at Rock and Roll Brewhouse in Jewellry Quarter, to many stunning sets to mention.

Slipknot last night. 25th anniversary tour for their self-titled debut. Brutal metal at its finest.

Had a comedy gig on Friday - Dylan Moran support was Scott Bennett and Ria Lina.

Scott Bennett was fab, but Dylan Moran, different type of set from one I've seen on TV, he was just rambling. Brilliantly. Surreal and hilarious. Highly recommended if he's coming to a school hall near you 🙂

Nothing lined up in December, but going to see an Iron Maiden tribute act (Ed Force One) in the new year.

If anyone likes gloomy, twangy, reverb-y southern-gothic & Nick Cave inspired post-punk then I would recommend going to watch Bambara on their UK tour next year. They're one of my favourite bands.

I saw them after 2 years of covid delays in 2022, in Sneaky Pete's (a tiny venue), and they were raucously intense. Really amped up the punk factor, the singer was diving around on stage like crazy and the guitars sounded like a wall of noise.

If anyone likes gloomy, twangy, reverb-y southern-gothic & Nick Cave inspired post-punk then I would recommend going to watch Bambara on their UK tour next year. 

Hmmm - just listening to them now, they sound pretty decent and playing in Leeds next April.

For anyone in and around Edinburgh my friends Quiet Houses (not Quiet Horses as it says on the CV website) are playing at Cabaret Voltaire on Friday night. If you like catchy indie pop songs they are well worth seeing. It's a home gig just before Christmas so should be a great atmosphere too.

Lambrini Girls at Nottingham Rough Trade.

wanted to see these for some time now and wasnt disappointed.  loud, fast, energetic, crowd loved em.  i think phoebe spent more time in the crowd than on stage, crowd surfing while playing the guitar, laying on the floor, getting the crowd involved 😀

was a iittle surprised by just how political they were.  i knew they were pro-gay/queer and they split the crowd at one stage for gays to come to the front and chant along.  however, i had to question "who here hates the police?" *crowd roar* "pigs! filth!" and then leading the crowd into chants of "ACAB!".  all seemed very outdated, the sort of thing us teenage punks used to say in the late 70s.  "who hates the government?"  *crowd roar*  "who here thinks theres a toxic sexual culture at gigs?"  *crowd roar* before a lecture on calling out sexual assaults at gigs.  maybe its worse than i thought these days, maybe im an old fossil that doesnt see it as im not a young lass in a moshpit, but some of it just seemed a bit OTT.  (awaits flaming).   i mean obviously that needs calling out when it happens (and bands like Idles do it well), but perhaps it would have been a stronger message if it was just in isolation.  chuck it in with hating the police, hating the government etc for me it just became a bit 'ok whats next?'

ill still go see them again when i can tho.  theyre back in nottingham in a few months but already sold out.

1991 and Culture Shock in Perth on Sat 🙂

@Sadexpunk - I was there as well. Great little gig, agree about the f the police / government sentiment. Not sure what change they were wanting there - without the police / government in some form then society would be in an even worse state.

I saw Ed Force One (Iron Maiden tribute band) at The Cresent in York on Friday. It was a great night, and I was impressed that it wasn't just a 'Best of...' act as tribute bands often are – they had a good mix of the obvious covers (Run to the Hills and Fear of the Dark) to more unusual choices such as Wrathchild and The Prisoner. Pity we had to leave just before then end as we had to catch the last train home. Pigs x 7 up next.

@Sadexpunk – I was there as well. Great little gig, agree about the f the police / government sentiment. Not sure what change they were wanting there – without the police / government in some form then society would be in an even worse state.

@StuF shame i didnt know, we could have met for a drink.  you going to see them again in a few months time at rescue rooms?  already sold out so ill have to look out on twickets.

ive messaged you but dont know whether youll get a notification or not, messages seem to be borked at the mo.

A new gig popped up this evening that I’ve grabbed a couple of tickets for - Miki Berenyi, formerly of Lush and Piroshka, now performing as the Miki Berenyi Trio with her husband Moose McKillop and Oliver Cherer. Now without a drummer, they’ve had to bring in electronic beats, but there’s still the Lush sound there, from what I’ve heard so far.

Looking forward to it, on 30 January literally fifteen days time!

I'm really looking forward to the MBT album - if the Piroshka album is anything to go by then it'll be great!

Miki Berenyi, formerly of Lush

Came down one morning in my uni house to find her sleeping on my sofa.......Emma was in one of the other rooms (!) would have been 1989.

But anyway not a gig but the next best thing, I'm going to see A Complete Unknown on Saturday at a small 'arty' cinema where you can take beer in etc so should be pretty good

I'll be going to see Brant Bjork (ex Kyuss) in a couple of weeks, and looks like 2025 is turning into a desert metal type year as Alain Johannes is due to play a tiny back of the pub type venue in May. I'm mystified by this. He's well known enough to play with QOTSA, Them Crooked Vultures, Dave Grohl, etc, seems to be a sucessful engineer/producer, but will be playing to about 50 people in Swansea. I wonder why?

Spent an enjoyable afternoon and evening at Beat the Streets festival in Nottingham - loads of small bands (rap / punk / ska / acoustic / spoken word) in different venues across the city. Bargin price and all takings going to a local homeless charity.

Highlights were probably Jayahadadream, Brad Dear, Pet Needs and The Hoplites. Will definately be going again next year.

Couple of good ones recently - last Saturday was corto.alto at a SOLD OUT Glasgow Barrowland, not bad for young folks from Glasgow playing pretty 'proper' jazz! It was brilliant, also enjoyed by Tyred Jr the Younger who plays in the jazz band at school ("the main guy needs to stop talking so much but the drummer is amazing" was his verdict), a little less so by Mrs Tyred ("just too much noodling"). But a class night out with friends, met an old friend there unexpectedly who I've not seen in ages, so it was great. Part of Celtic Connections, but not too many people in the crowd wearing full winter mountaineering gear.

Saturday there - an appropriate one given it was Burns night - saw LYR in the town hall in Darvel, a pretty grim wee village in darkest Ayrshire (apologies to any Ayrshire locals but it is a hole). The poet laureate's band! They were fantastic, all the more so because there were about 30 people in the hall, half of whom were either the support acts or their families. I could listen to Simon Armitage read his poetry all day, it was beautiful. They were all happy to hang around and chat for ages afterwards, total dream fulfillment stuff for my friend who's a HUGE fan. Felt like a real treat.

Not much for a couple of weeks now, in fact I think the next thing I've a ticket for is Spiritualized, who are playing their best album (Pure Phase, obvs) in full at the Theatre Royal in March, really looking forward to that. Will be introducing Tyred Jr the Younger, guitar player who's recently started playing electric, to the world of Jason Pierce. Ahhhh.

Two upcoming gigs in Brum Feb 23rd a charity acoustic punk afternoon at Draculas Garage.Tower of Song in Kings Norton 4 or 5 bands. March 9th its Hard Headed Woman Fest at Night Owl in Digbeth 6 Bands including 2 who I've seen, Boo Tickis and Mandelbrot Shakes.

Saw Djabbic 3 and Modern literature saturday at Rock n Roll Brewhouse in Jewellry Quarter and both were brilliant and on sunday it was James Oliver at Brasshouse and Three Mile Island at O Bar both on Broard Street,really impressed with the last ones, original indie guitar rock.

and looks like 2025 is turning into a desert metal type year

1000 Mods ended up on my YouTube feed, their song Vidage will get right into your head, and they're playing Glasgow Feb 11th. Enough to even tempt me out on a weeknight 😆

Just managed to get some tickets to see Kublai Khan TX in Leeds on Thursday. Very happy chappy!

oooh just booked Rival Schools in Glasgow. Good things are coming our way

And managed to snag a ticket for Pantera in February. Tonight has been a good night.

Alain Johannes is due to play a tiny back of the pub type venue in May

Saw him last year in Trillians a small rock bar in Newcastle and he was brilliant, got to meet him after the show and he is such a great guy! Gonna catch him again this year.

He's also touring with Masters of Reality in early april which I intend going to. Would be worth catching them while you can as Chris Goss doesn't look a well man to me.

Anyone seen Mogwai in recent years? They're playing Leeds in Feb - I've been listening to a lot of their older stuff recently, so fancy going. Never really listened to anything post Mr Beast, though, which was 2006. So they must be a completely different band now. Do they typically play some of the older songs?

Just got a ticket for a Sunday lunchtime mini-gig and signing session with Bob Mould at Rough Trade Records in Bristol, 9th March. £15 which includes a CD of his new album...seems like a cracking deal!

and looks like 2025 is turning into a desert metal type year
1000 Mods ended up on my YouTube feed, their song Vidage will get right into your head, and they’re playing Glasgow Feb 11th. Enough to even tempt me out on a weeknight ?

I've just listened to Vidage, and am now listening to their newest album. Decent stuff, esp Vidage. I'll keep an eye out for them. (They aren't touring anywhere near me this year.)

Anyone seen Mogwai in recent years?... they must be a completely different band now

Just checked out the new album this morning... I think, if you like their older stuff, it's a pretty safe bet you'll like their new stuff!

Do they typically play some of the older songs?

Mostly more recentish stuff, frequently ending with either Like Herod or Fear Satan.

I’ll be joining the queue tomorrow lunchtime to try to get NIN tickets at the O2 Dome.

already got my ticket for Chat Pile in Digbeth in April. Devil horn emoji!

Mogwai

Might have to crank up Spotify. Found Pelican through Mogwai way back when, I drifted off to heavy things and forgot about them.

Garry_Lager
Full Member

Anyone seen Mogwai in recent years? They’re playing Leeds in Feb – I’ve been listening to a lot of their older stuff recently, so fancy going. Never really listened to anything post Mr Beast, though, which was 2006. So they must be a completely different band now. Do they typically play some of the older songs?

It's really pretty variable tbh, they go on tour with a huge bag of tracks rehearsed and change setlists pretty much every night, which is good obviously for variety but also means you can easily see them twice on the same tour and get a really different experience or think "wish I'd seen them last night". Couple of times I've seen them basically do a chill set, not so much "new stuff" as "less angry stuff" and it was really good but it's not really what I'm there for, I want horrible noise and weaponised quiet/loud bits that you can feel in your spleen.

TBF they just have a ton of songs they want to play, personally I can't understand how Rano Pano still gets in the setlist when they basically have 10 songs that are the same but better, but I think they basically just play what they think is good and that's cool. Other times they'll suddenly find an older track and it's reliably in the set, they did this with Ratts for a while and they were closing most shows with My Father My King for a while a couple of years back frinstance (and I do like MFMK, I just wish it weren't 3 days long is all)

I've never seen them be bad, don't get me wrong but I've seen them be absolutely phenomenal and I've seen them be merely good. And this is definitely a "new album tour". Not to put you off either, I reckon you should just check out some newer stuff and not depend on the old.

First gig of 2025 last night, well, it could almost have been, three bands, starting at 8.30, it was barely finished by midnight!
Firtst band Keeley were ok, nothing special, second band, Shoun Shoun were not bad, interesting mix of instruments, good singer, excellent drummer, and a decent bunch of songs.

Headliner was Miki Berenyi Trio, the drummer who they recorded and toured with as Piroshka, Justin Welch, formerly of Elastica, is in such demand they’re recording as a trio with Miki, Moose, her husband, and Oli Cherer on bass, with electronic percussion. Bloody good, too, an excellent evening, although my knees were killing me by the time I got home!

Toto and Christopher Cross at the Glasgow Hydro. Probably my last ever visit there, the sound is just utter sh##e . Neither would have been my choice which probably didn't help but still waiting to hear the Sax player and Steve Lukather's guitar....

My first gig of 0225 was last night, too.

As part of the Independent Venues Week I saw Fyfe Dangerfield last night doing an acoustic set in a tiny venue, that can only take about 70 people. It was absolutely amazing, his voice and musical talents are mind blowing, he was asking the audience to shout out tunes they wanted to hear and then playing them.

He played a whole lot of Guillemots stuff (of course) but also some solo and new stuff that he's been working on for a while, all of which was an incredible standard. I feel very lucky to have been one of the few to be there last night.

I booked tickets for a Christmas concert by Cara Dillon at the Cheese & Grain in Frome on December 18 a couple of weeks ago - they arrived in the post this morning! Compared to some venues where you book an e-ticket ten months ahead, and be told that the e-ticket won’t be available in your e-ticket wallet until no earlier than five days before the event… [img] [/img]

First "gig" of 25 done - saw Stewart Lee at York Theatre Royal last week. No idea what to expect - only seen snippets of him over the years but really, really funny. Will check him out when he's back. Only disappointment was that a week earlier, Terrorvision announced they were doing a gig at the Brudenell in Leeds as part of independent venues week and the dates clashed with Stewart Lee. Ah well, I will see Terrorvision this year hopefully!

Three music gigs booked too - Bluetones in York, Sleeper in September in Leeds and Black Keys at some point in Leeds (can't remember when!). Was half tempted to go for the ACDC tickets in Edinburgh but (un)luckily it clashes with some holidays we've already booked - looks like I'll just have to remember them from 10 years ago at Hampden Park.

One of my favourite rap artistes,  ELUCID, on Thursday at Cafe Oto in London. Bought the tickets on NYE whilst rather pissed, not realising it was a 2.5 hour drive to get there! I'm sure it'll be worth it. ELUCID is awesome.

Attilla The Stockbroker, punk poet (and mandola player) tonight. An impromptu decision, based on the fact that I only found out about it yesterday, but it's £8 per ticket and about 400m from my house, so why on earth not!

Interesting...

Black Sabbath final gig

I think I'll have to go – I saw them on the last but one night of their final tour (couldn't get tickets for the final night) and this sounds like a whole heap of fun.

@IdleJon I had the chance to see Attila the Stockbroker many years ago with John Otway, performing the whole of Cheryl, A Rock Opera in a tiny theatre in Small Heath, iirc, Birmingham. It was an incredible show being recorded for Channel 4 but never got shown

Was it Nelson Mandola?