Category Archives: Music

Idles

Idles were pretty good tonight. Last night now.

One of the best live bands I’ve seen.

Interpol & Nick Cave

Somehow, I’ve managed to double book gigs again. While, both were booked a long time ago, I need to be more organised about these things.

Interpol’s in town, but Nick Cave’s Manchester (where we saw him last time, before Covid). I saw Interpol in Edinburgh last year, so decided on Nick Cave.

The gig’s tonight.

Then, yesterday, I came down with a bloody awful bug. I can see it’s going to just be a 48 hour thing, but that obviously means I’m going nowhere today.

The silly thing is, there’d always be a chance I’d be ok for tonight, so Interpol might have been an option. If I hadn’t given the ticket away.

Fat Freddy’s Drop

I’d been so busy with the bar and working in the garden, that I’d forgotten I was going to a Fat Freddy’s Drop gig a few days ago.

Fortunately, I was reminded with a couple of hours notice.

Night sweats

Yesterday was spent in York, in several bars, before seeing Nathaniel Rateliffe and the Nightsweats at the Barbican.

We’d planned to see them in Leeds a couple of years ago, but the gig was cancelled on the day.

They were insanely good, better than expected.

One added bonus on the day was a pint of unfined Jaipur in the York Tap. This one was a DDH version, so I’ve still not tried the original, which is fined with isinglass.

Maybe one day.

Foo Fighters

So, last week, I saw the Foo Fighters for the third time (that I remember); this time at Glasgow’s Hampden Park. As expected, they were great.

On both past occasions, I’d seen them at festivals; Leeds 2005 and Glastonbury 2017. The stadium gig was obviously longer and better, but I think I preferred the festival atmosphere.

This last time was part of a larger family group, which I probably wouldn’t want to do again.

The Boss

At just under three hours, last night’s (technically, although we’re not long home) gig was impressive for a guy in his 70s.

I’d never exactly describe myself as a Bruce Springsteen fan, but he certainly puts everything into a performance.

Pretty astounding.

Elbow

Ok, so we saw Elbow at a warm-up gig in Newcastle a couple of weeks ago.

But we’d booked an arena thing in Glasgow ages ago.

Last weekend.

Two gigs

We had something of a rushed trip to Leeds the other day, for a gig in a new (to me) venue, Brudenell Social Club. I’d been trying to see the Hillbilly Moon Explosion for a few years, but it didn’t really work out for various reasons, including the obvious pandemic. So, it was great that the timing finally worked out.

The icing on the cake was the discovery of Cavegirl and the Neandergals, the support act. A bit off the wall, but insanely good.

Then, last night, back on home ground, Elbow’s warm-up gig for an arena tour, at the City Hall. While predictably good, I think I do prefer seeing them at smaller venues.

The Hold Steady

I’ve not had a lot of luck in catching the Hold Steady on tour. Mostly because they don’t often have dates beyond London.

I did once see them in Newcastle, at the Riverside, a few years ago; they were silly good. Last January, i had a ticket for a London gig, but there was a lot going on in the bar, so i ended up not going.

I actually made it yesterday, though. Sort of. I couldn’t stay over, since I needed to be home this morning for the dog. Train times didn’t work out (eight hours overnight), so that left the bus.

Unfortunately, with a late-ish start to the gig, I had to miss half of it. Next time, I’ll find someone to watch the hound.

Still, they were ridiculously good.