The Victorian English Gentlemans Club & Sons and Daughters(again)

Night & Day, Manchester, 24/11/07.

I was really looking forward to this one, fave band, fave venue and off for the weekend. Seeing TVEGC for the second Sat in a row too what's not to look forward too. Decided to get the train to arrive in Manchester at 4pm. I thought I'd then pop into the N&D for a coffee and see if there's anything going on. This I did, not much going on in the N&D though so I went round the corner and booked into the Crown. I then went off to my fave French restaurant to eat. I got back to the venue at 7:35 ish and got talking to a nice couple outside who were Sons & Daughters fans.

They soon let us in so bought a drink and went to my usual Corins side by the piano. I was soon joined by the couple I was talking to on the door and we continued to chat away. It didn't seem long before Lou stepped up onstage and started setting up soon joined by Em's. Lou spotted me and said hi, the couple I was talking to looked at me! "I'm just a fan" I said. Quite a comical moment really.

As we were waiting for them to start I get a tap on the shoulder. It was Steve a guy I meet at many gigs and a big fan of TVEGC. We had a good chat and said if he could get on the guest list he'd make the trip to Sheffield the following night, there was no way I could do Sheffield as I had to in work early Mon morning. Hmm jealous now.

Another excellent set, this time they included "stupid as wood" one of my fave songs. Lou was back to wearing her white dress with the black cross on too. They also played an excellent version of La Mer too that seemed different to last week somehow, but it just did.

When they finished the couple I'd been talking too turned to me and said they really enjoyed them. After a few moments they came back to start clearing their gear away. As Lou was clearing her gear away she handed me her set list. I carried on chatting to Steve as we awaited S&D. By now too the front of the stage was fairly packed as the show was sold out.

I stayed Corins side for Sons & Daughters as I'd watched them from Carries side in Liverpool. I also wanted to take a closer look at Ailidh the bass player who fascinated me last week. She is the only member of the band without a mike and dances back and forth singing to herself.

Again they played a pretty good set though I think Adel was a little below par tonight. She did announce she had been suffering from a cold and had to keep taking water for her throat after nearly every song. In fairness though she kept going and was pretty lively.

A shout here to the guitarist and obviously the main person in the band. Scott is the driving force behind them live, he comes over as a very confident musician. Also being a Glaswegian can handle any banter with an audience. Again I was impressed with them and look forward to their new album next year. After Steve and I walked up to the merch desk. Lou and Em's had come out and as I promised Louise in Liverpool I'd buy a t-shirt at the Manchester show, I duly did. I asked Lou if I could have a photo and Em's said she would take it. Me looking a total dork again, the guy holding the poster behind me to my left is Steve by the way.

Vile Vile Creatures (no 9)

Ruby Lounge, Manchester, 18/11/07.

After running up and down from Liverpool on Sat I was a bit tired. I was working so had to get the 4:50 train. When I got to Manchester I sent a text to Sian asking Ko time. No reply came the answer! Hmm! Ok. I thought I'd take a gander at the venue to see if it said there.

As had happened a few times this year as I got to the Ruby lounge Jen, Sian and David walked round the corner. Jen asked if I was coming in but I said I needed to get something to eat first. But she persuaded me to come in for 1 drink. This I did and we had good chat fo 20 mins till I said I had to pop for food and I'd be back in an hour or so as they weren't due on till 9 ish.

Got back to the place as VVC were setting up. They soon got going and opened with Wilderness then into Video the old (new) song. They played a good set of about 10 songs ending of course on FF. Excellent as always.

I'd calculated that this was the 9th time I'd see VVC this year. I have one more on 15/12 a good round figure to finish the year on. During this performance Jen broke a string and cut her finger which bled fairly badly. She asked the "audience" if anyone had a plaster. As it happens I always have plasters in my wallet, but a guy to my right got to Jen first. She carried on superbly and I think she revelled in the "rock'n'roll" of the situation. Though her finger was quite badly cut. This was also one of the longest sets I've seen them play too I think. Good form though. After we stood around chatting. When it came time to leave I asked if they wanted a hand with their gear as they were having to load it out the front entrance. Sian and David went to get Sian's car while Jen myself and another girl who's name I forget now, sorry kept an eye on the gear in the street in the cold Manchester night. Jen nips off to see where Sian and David are and comes back to announce Sian's car won't start. Staring at the gear on the floor she suddenly says "where are the amps?" The three of us look at the now locked door of the venue "Erm! in there!!" Jens face was a picture, "shit, shit" she says. Jen has to use my phone to call David who has the number of the venue to get them to open up to get the amps. Fair enough 5 mins latter the amps are shoved out the front door. We then have to load the gear into two cabs to get the Creatures home, a quite comical end to a good evening really.

The Victorian English Gentlemans Club & Sons and Daughters.

Academy, Liverpool, 17/11/07.

Because the Wrexham gig was cancelled I made a late decision to go to this one. Though why on earth I wasn't going in the first place, I don't know. Lets face it my fave (current) band playing 25 miles up the road. I think I'd just decided to do Wrexham and Manchester and skip Liverpool for some reason. Anyway Liverpool was now a must. So off I tootled to Liverpool straight from work. I got to the Academy at about 7:45. Academy is probably my fave Liverpool venue, small enough to have a good atmosphere but a big enough stage to accommodate a bands gear and let them move around. The one minus point a metal barrier, Liverpool venues seem to love these. Perhaps it's to stop scaly scousers robin' the gear (no intended offence to anyone).

As I've said many a time I love TVEGC live. It's at the point now too where their set is almost entirely new material. They only play a couple of songs off the album. Seeing them live now I have to take more notice of the songs to try to get to know them a bit better.

For this show I went to Adam's side I thought it would be a better view of Em's from this side. She is so great to watch live. Her hair falls over her face as she head rocks, but differently to Janet. She also has a habit of pouting her lips. She sometimes stands up while drumming too. I also love the Adam and Lou interact onstage and alot of the time play "at" each other.

Lou sometimes steps up to the front center of the stage and plays whilst staring straight ahead above the audience too.Again they were super and remain my fave (current) band. Whilst S&D were setting up I noticed Adam and Lou were at the merch desk so I went over to say hi etc. I asked how their European dates had gone down. Adam said they love playing the mainland as they just get looked after better in countries like Germany, Holland etc, "unlike here" he concluded. I told them I was also going to the Manchester gig and that I'd see them there. Lou then asks if I already have a ticket for the show cuz if not she'll put me on the guest list. I said I already do. Adam then says that in the future just mail them and they'll put me down on the list. I thought this was a lovely gesture. I won't of course, paying £5 - £10 to see TVEGC is always a bargain in my book.
I said my goodbyes and went back to my spot stage left to see S&D.

Sons & Daughters are a four piece from Glasgow. Two guys, drums and guitar and two girls bass and vocals/keys. They play an upbeat pop/punk style typical of Scottish indie pop bands really. I got their album Repulsion Box last year (shit or was it the year before? can't remember now) which was pretty good. Not sure if I'd be here if it weren't for the VEGC though. Like VEGC they are mostly playing yet unreleased material. They have an new album "in the bag" so to speak but played only about 3/4 songs I recognised. In fairness I really enjoyed them they were entertaining and good to watch. The lead singer had a good stage presence and was reminding me of someone till it suddenly struck me. She is the double of Beth Ditto (ok a slimmer version) but just the way she moved round stage was so Beth. The bass player was interesting too she just danced her way through the set in a weired sort of way back and forth. Cute though.

When they finished on their most recognised song "Dance me in" I had to make a dash for my train. In all an excellent night.

Fiery Furnaces

Night & Day, Manchester, 10/11/07.

This was an interesting day/night (forgive the pun). I decided to take a half day in work to get to Manchester early. I decided to get the 2:50 pm train. As I got on the train and picked a seat I noticed three seats ahead one of the double seats with a table was free so I moved myself there. Just then a girl came on chatting away on her mobile, she then chucked a guitar case in the seat opposite me. She kept talking away and saying about writing songs, playing some shows and going to gigs.

I thought to myself I must have a chat with this girl when she finishes her call. As soon as she hung up I said to her that I go to a lot of gigs by myself. Just as she pointed at my bag and said I like your Help She Can't Swim badge. From there on we had a really good chat. Turns out she is a singer/songwriter called Stephanie Finnegan based in Aberystwyth (west Wales). She's from Warrington originally but was in Uni in Aber and just sort of stayed there. We chatted about music obviously and she gave me her web add to check her out. Turns out she's pretty good and I've promised to go see her play. She has an album recorded too that I'll buy asap.

An excellent start the evening.

I went to the N & D at about 4:30 is just to have a coffee and see if anything was going on. There were a few people about then I spotted Eleanor sat in the window area reading and having a coffee. Cool. When I went down to the toilet too when coming back up I passed Mat and said a quick Hi!.

I sorted myself out and got something to eat. I got to the N & D about 7:40 there was a bit of a queue. I must admit I was surprised that FF were playing here I thought they would play Academy 2 at least. Wasn't complaining though as I like the Night & Day. I thought there would be a big turn out for this too. I was right as the place filled up well within the next 45mins.

The first band on were The Sporting Life a Liverpool band who weren't bad, though I had the feeling I'd seen the lead singer/guitarist before somewhere.

By the time FF came on there was a good crowd packed up front. The venue was pretty much sold out I would guess. I was Corins side (as normal). FF played quite a longish set and mostly the new album too. Standouts were "Duplexes of the dead" and "Japanese slippers". One thing that was interesting was that it was Matt that did nearly all the talking. Eleanor did very little and generally only communicated with Matt and the other two band members apart from the odd "thanks".

A mention here to the bass player and the drummer who were both excellent musicians. They provided a great backing to Matt and Eleanor's quirky and eccentric pop rock.

I really enjoyed them, it was an excellent show. I did manage to catch and have a quick word with Matt after, I was dying to ask if he'd seen Carrie lately. I didn't though.

Somethings in life......

Are beautiful. This is such a lovely little item I don't even want to open it, it will spoil its cuteness.
It's a limited edition Erase Errata single. I'm not going to say who sent it me.
But a million thanks Andy.

The Brunettes & V V C.

Star & Garter, Manchester, 7/11/07.

Didn't have to rush here as V V C had told me they weren't on till 9:30. I got to the S&G about 9:15 ish. I was not sure what other bands were on either. I went straight upstairs to be told proceedings would start in 5 mins. The girl on the door told me the main band was the Brunettes who have just been signed to Sub Pop apparently. I went back downstairs and found Jen, Sian and David were in the downstairs snug. We had a chat for a few minutes then got called upstairs to start. First band on were Billy Ruffian, basic punky stuff but not bad.

VVC were up next. Again Jen and Sian had swapped sides. I keep meaning to ask why they swap but always forget. I quite like the Star & Garter the stage is a good height and the sound is ok for such a small venue.

They were back to top form again here. I think the higher stage suits them more. There were no new songs this time though a straight forward set I'm pretty used to now. Again Ghosts & Ghouls stood out.

As of course did FF, still love that bass line.

The main band this evening was The Brunettes, a band from New Zealand. They are a six piece band who have multi instrumentation. They were ok quite poppy but were very listenable.

I can't give a full opinion because I had to dash off to get my train back home . I think I heard about 4 songs.

I quickly said my goodbye's to Jen, Sian and David and made a dash for the 11:25 train.

Pony Up!

Night & Day, Manchester, 3/11/07.

I got to the N&D about 8 ish again I wasn't sure what sort of crowd Pony Up would attract. When I got in the place I was surprised to find the place unusually packed. It took me a few moment to realise that most people were, well a lot older and certainly not there to see PU.
I couldn't work out what the deal was here. I bought a drink and went down towards the stage to my usual spot by the piano (must take a photo of that someday). There were two guys sat down at the table by there one of them in a suit. I thought I recognised the other chap but couldn't put a name to him at that point. Then some guys came over and had a photo taken with this guy. I then realised he was the football agent Eric Hall. I then figured the place must be full because there may be some "celebrity" footballers in.

There were three bands billed to play tonight, City Lights, LR Rockets and Pony Up. Then a band started setting up, followed by a media circus up the front. I couldn't figure, the band was not City Lights. Anyway the main guy announced himself as Rupert Hill and the band Yellow Dog. This guy was a really polished good looking chap, a promoters dream really, very marketable. Think a clean Mr Doherty! They were crap, well ok that's a little harsh. Bollocks I feel like being harsh, they were crap! After the media circus followed this guy and Mr Hall was introducing him to the "suits" et al. Then everybody buggered off. As the other bands played less people were up at the stage as time went it was bizarre. City Lights, nah! not that good. LR Rockets were quite entertaining though.

By the time Pony Up came on there was myself and two girls up the front of the stage, and they were Canadian!. After a couple of songs though it filled up as people realized this was a good little band. I was looking forward to seeing PU though I wondered whether they may be a little too poppy. I love their album though I have a dilemma in the fact that it was released last year, therefore not eligible for my top 20 of the year. That's a separate issue though.

I thoroughly enjoyed them they were super, really excellent musicians. They struck the right balance of putting their material over. They managed to beef their sound up without losing its whimsical sensibility.

As for this gorgeous little lady on main vocal and keys, after a few songs I was just captivated by her. Laura Wills is just, well just, JUST!! She has such a cute voice, fronts the band well and bops up and down with total cuteness. When they played "Pastime endeavour", one of the more upbeat songs on the album the emotion got to me. I filled up with tears it moved me that much. It's difficult to explain to "other" people how this art form can move me so much. I understand how it's impossible for people to grasp this. Fact is it does and I make no excuses for it. Even writing about this has made me fill up again. I think I filled up within 30 seconds of S-K's gig in Philly, that is my record one, jeez.

After the show I went to their merch stall where 3 of the 4 band members were there. I bought almost everything. I too had a really nice chat with Laura who offstage is as contagiously gorgeous as on it. She had this beautiful soft Canadian accent that just melted me. Ok enough of lovesick puppy mode, but Corin, Janet, Lou, Em's and Laura Mary have some serious competition here.

PS: I may give the impression here that I love my fave bands due to the fact I have the "hots" for whoever. Believe me it's the music I fall in love with first.

Asobi Seksu/Scanners/Sound Movement.

Korova, Liverpool, 31/10/07.


Got to the Korova bar about 5/10 past 9 and for a change here the doors had opened on time. I went in but there weren't many people in and nobody I knew. I wondered if Sakura (photo girl) would be covering this one but no sign of her.

The Sound Movement came out onto the floor and Kat immediately recognised me and came straight over to say hi. She's had a tough year as she'd broken both hands in an accident and it was looking like 18 months before she would play bass again. Fortunately she healed in 9 and is just getting back into the swing of things. In all it's been a difficult year for SM.

She was in fairly high spirits though. Kat then said they were on now and would catch me latter. They now play as a three piece when I saw them last year they were a four.

Most of the stuff on the SM set was new and sounded good a couple of old faves were played though, Kat seemed ok and comfortable. I was pleased for her and I told them as they were packing up I thought they worked better as a three piece. I asked Andrew for his set list to keep up on the new stuff.

Next up were Scanners, I've got them on my to check out list but haven't got round to them yet. A four piece from London, female fronted. They were ok the lead singer/guitarist Sarah had a good stage presence too. I need to check out them more.
The main act here was a band from New York called Asobi Seksu. Of the name I have no idea. Again a four piece, lead singer/keyboardist was an oriental girl almost reminiscent of Satomi from Deerhoof. I liked the guitarist who was a really good and rocked out a fair bit in the limited space he had. Though I didn't know much (any really) of their material I enjoyed them. They were very watchable the drummer was excellent too.
During their set Kat from SM came up alongside me and asked me what I thought of them. We chatted about them (in between songs) for the rest of their set. A guy behind me tapped me on the shoulder during the set asking if I was connected to the bands playing. I said no I'm just a music fan. He said are you sure cuz you seem to know everybody. This amused me slightly. After the show I went to the small merch stall and had a chat with the girl from AS, she did tell me her name but I didn't hear it properly.
I then went upstairs to the bar I thought I'd have a quick drink then head off. As it happened I bumped ito David the guy who thought I was connected to the bands. We introduced ourselves and had a good chat about music and stuff.
Just then Kat came up wearing her coat and said "there you are" she said they were going now and it was nice to catch up. We gave each other a peck on the cheek and said goodbye. David just looked at me with a "talk your way out of that one" look. It was one of those you had to be there moments really.
Really funny though.

Shrag & V V C.

Joshua Brooks, Manchester, 28/10/07.

Joshua Brooks is one of those awful pseudo pubs built to look like an olde English place, but in essence is shit.

The venue for the gig was in the basement. I got there about 8:20 ish as I had sent Sian a text asking when ko was. She text me back saying they were on at 9 and Shrag at 10.

The place had a small stage and a stone floor and pillars here and there. The building was a warehouse along the canal in it's past. As predicted there were not many people about. The Creatures came in not long after me and we said our Hi's and had a chat for a while. Jen said she was still not 100% as she'd been down with a cold. They were still a bit naffed as they'd been stitched by some promoters recently, but things were ok.

The stage here seemed really cluttered and I wondered how they would get on. They came on just after 9 and rattled through their set, no surprises this time though. Highlight being "Ghost & ghouls now a firm fave live. With the stage being cluttered there was not too much movement going on which was a shame. The sound was not good either. This was not the best VVC performance I've seen but still enjoyed it. Jen did her usual run into the audience for FF though.

Shrag stepped up not long after. They're a five piece from Brighton , and good friends with VVC. The lead singer girl had a cute voice but I'll be honest I wasn't particularly sold on them.

It didn't help that there were a couple of drunken idiots in the place who were just annoying everyone. In the end the security came and chucked them out.

I went upstairs onto the outside balcony with Jen, Sian and David after and we had a good natter for a while. I eventually said my goodbye and headed off back to my accom'n.

In truth not the best show of the year but nice as always to catch up with VVC.