Before anyone starts rejoicing at my return (ahem) I’m not back permanently, but the blog should none the less be re-emerging from the gloom — I’ve not had anywhere near enough time to devote to it so I’ve handed the reins over to local all-round wunderkind Mhairi. I may resurface from time to time, but this is her baby now so make her feel welcome!
Exit stage left, pursued by a bear badger…
I’ve been in the sticks for a few days and connectivity here is nugatory at best; stuff from last week has been written up but I’m waiting until I get back to civilisation before making any attempt to post it — cjeck back later today or early tomorrow…
One thing I’ve noticed in the recent gigs I’ve been to (aside from the surprising number of indie bands that Stoke seems to produce) is that bands have an increasing tendency to forget there’s an audience — they’ll play to each other, the singer will stand on the drum riser and sing to the drummer, and the crowd rarely gets a look-in. While I’m not expecting bands to stare intently into the crowd, and while some interaction between the people on the stage is fine, there are limits. I’m sure if the audience all turned to face away from the band they’d get pretty cheesed off…
Grumbling aside, I’m doing my best to get back on track but I’ve been quite busy with other projects and this (as a non-paying endeavour) has had to slip a little; I’ve committed myself to at least half a dozen events over the next couple of weeks though, so normal servioce should be resumed etc. (Yes, yes, I’ve said it before. So sue me.)
Ok, vacation over, and I’m feeling refreshed and invigorated so it’s back to the grind. I’ve got a few odds and sods from the past couple of weeks to cover (Flight Five-O-Five, Studio Promo, Vinefest, etc.) which I’ll update over the next day or so, and having not been paying much attention this week the only gigs I’m currently aware of are Foulplay at the Brunswick this Friday and Studio Promo at the M on Wednesday. More to follow when I’ve got my act together…
I’m dog-sitting over the weekend and I’ve had something of an irritating week so far, so I’m giving myself a few days off. If anyone happens to go to any of this weekend’s gigs and fancies scrawling a few words I have a few freebie CDs to give away in return, and normal service will be resumed next week.
As I’ve had a few complaints recently (publicly via the comments, and privately via email) I thought I’d clear up a few things:
Ok, you can go now.
First, some good news. I had an email from Eric, one of the guys involved in reopening the Brunswick on Nantwich Road, and he’s keen to get some live music in there when it reopens so any bands who may be interested in playing there should either drop a in CD or contact him via email. They’re even thoughtfully providing a keyboard/drum setup which may make life easier for those bands who may usually be put off from playing due to the sheer logistics of the operation! Opening night is Thursday 23rd July with music from Mike Holloway’s HMV band, and they hope to have live music every Friday and Saturday, so if you want to play get in touch with him!
I should also give a quick mention to Willaston Social Club; Claire has contacted me to let me know that she’s trying to liven things up down there and is also keen to hear from bands looking for a venue. I’ll be passing on the details of a few bands I think might be up for it, so if you’re interested get in touch and I’ll pass you through to her.
Right, that’s the end of the news. Onwards!
I’ve mentioned before that, on paper at least, I’m not a huge fan of cover bands. There are exceptions for those that either make an extra effort or stand out in some way, but for the most part they’re largely formulaic and uninspiring.
Sadly, Firestorm for me fell into this category — the setlist could have belonged to 99.9% of cover bands, and the performance rarely rose above mediocre; the argument usually goes that they’re only "playing what the crowd wants," but (as demonstrated ably by Foulplay) the audience may respond better to familiar-but-not-clichéd material. They weren’t bad per se but they gave no compelling reason why, if you were looking for a covers band, you should pick them out of the thousands of others out there; I was quite taken with the vocalists voice but they played few songs that really took advantage of it, and I wonder whether they wouldn’t be better off writing some original material or revising their repertoire.
After waiting patiently outside the Box, and apparently being the only person keen to see the gig (I was the alpha and omega of the queue), yet again I was denied entry if I intended on publicising it afterwards. Perhaps I took a different economics course than the owner of the Box, but to me "paying customer providing free advertising" is better than "turning away a paying customer and making them anithetical towards you". Perhaps there’s a good reason why they’re the only venue who views my endeavours as anything other than a positive thing, but I’m damned if I can work out what it might be.
As a result of this and the still-ludicrous weather my review of the things I did go and see will have to wait, but until some sort of explanation is forthcoming all I can say is that there’s some seriously fucked up shit going on at the Box.
Update: Received this email this morning:
Mat …. I`m Ray …the elusive owner of the BOX …. come and see me & we can sort out everything … those who know me ,…will tell you I don`t get involved in the booking of Indie bands I tend to leave it to those who know the current movement and shape of the scene. All i want is a venue which caters for all types of music and associated art. The venue has cost a fortune to build and is expensive to operate… In time I know it will be a success… but it does depend on finding the correct formula…and advertising , promoting etc. there is a place for the blog all we need to do is talk and sort it … ring me, come and enjoy a beer and well go forward together ,,,Ray ( feel free to publish my response)
Really hope this can be resolved by Wednesday — it’d be a bugger to miss Warrior Soul after all these years of waiting!
Update 2: Had a chat with Ray; nice bloke, and everything’s all sorted out. Warrior Soul, here I come!
I’m not a huge fan of hot weather, and I’m deinfitely not a fan of humidity, so it’s been heavy going this past week; I was laid up with some sort of throat infection at the weekend and now I can’t sleep because everywhere is like a sauna. Bah! Anyway, to the subject at hand, and I’ve decided rather than list everything I’ll just recommend the things that have leapt out at me for the coming week; I’m working on an easy way of aggregating all the upcoming events, but it’s slow going…
Wednesday night at the M-Club we have "the studio" — four indie/punk(ish) bands for £1, which can’t be bad. Doors open at 7:30, and then at 10:30 (and for an extra £5) the event becomes Vanilla NITE — what that entails, exactly, is unclear, but I’m sure all will be revealed in the fullness of time.
On Thursday The Box offers up Groanbox, a band who are hard to describe but nonetheless worth a gander. No support acts listed, though, so it’s anyone’s guess.
Friday is a tough one to call — on the one hand Vavoom are at the Imp, and if they’re even half as good as they were last time I saw them then they’ll still kick ass; on the other hand Attack! Attack! are at the Box (along with Sgt Wolfbanger, Hi Alert, and The Day Before Mortality). Needs some serious thinking about…
Old schoolers should have a whale of a time at the Limey over the weekend; Saturday offers an Alice Cooper tribute, and while I can’t imagine the stage show is anything like the real thing it should still be fun; on Sunday it’s the legends that are Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts, which I’d advise against missing if you have even one iota of common sense.
Looking ahead to next Wednesday, it’s a gig that I’ve been looking forward to for 15-20 years. Yes, Warrior Soul are coming to the Box! They never quite got the recognition or exposure they deserved, but they were a formative part of my youth and I’m bursting with anticipation to finally get to see them live. Be there!
Over the past week or so I’ve been a bit under the weather — my chronic insomnia has been compounded by the humidity, so I’m averaging an hour or two’s sleep a night — and my personal life has become a little more involved so things have slowed down a tad, but I’m still here!
A few things on tonight: Foulplay are at the Imp; there’s a Free/Bad Company tribute at the Limey; and Dinosaur Pileup, Japanese Voyeurs, Sumo Kings and Bleached Wail are at the Box; I’ll be at the Imp, and friends Mhairi and Mark will be at the Box having a few words with the Sumo Kings and Bleached Wail.
Hopefully a combination of medication and planning around things will make everything run a little smoother, but I’m a man and we don’t multitask well so juggling personal, professional, and public lives is stretching me a bit!
