Dogbones @ the Bullet Bar
The lighting is a little better than last week and the evening more organised. Although the mixture of bands is a bit bizarre.
Little Fish @ Powercut (Jericho Tavern)
Rather a strange concept; bands have to play as if in a powercut except that they can use electric guitars without pedals and microphones, but can't use drum sticks !
Little Fish @ Kolebka
An evening out in Southampton for Little Fish (and me). Five bands mean a fairly short set with a bit of a rush to set up and dismantle. Nez has a hard time as the drums move all over the stage; JuJu just bounces around (whilst playing guitar and singing). From this picture its difficult to see how she managed to avoid the ceiling.
I wouldn't be so hackneyed as to give the picture a title such as flying fish, I'll leave you to make up your own.
Little Fish @ the Crosskings
Things are very red downstairs at the Crosskings. A slightly different show from the fishes and a new guitar.
The support bands provided good support (and Geisha were pleasant to chat to as well)
There you see the new guitar and a red venue.
Vanilla Ride @ Bullet Bar
Expecting an early appearence by Vanilla Ride I was disappointed to find an array of accoustic offerings. These were largely drowned by the talkative audience, and hidden from view by the strange lights. The fast disappearing range of draught beers added to my ill temper..
I just wasted half an hour writing an enthralling piece on the merits of making stage announcements in norwegien and generally decrying this venue for not offering any lighting to AlicebanD who had dressed up for their creditable performance and for putting on Vanilla Ride so late that most people had gone home. Unfortunately this blog site crashed before I had saved it and lost my words of wit and wisdom. Overall it looks like time to find a reliable provider. This site is beginning to make Myspace look reliable. And I enjoyed Vanilla Ride....
Little Fish on tour @ More Music, Falmouth
Saturday dawns wet and misty. This severely hampers my sightseeing but I manage a tour of the shops in Penzance. Although most of the usual high street brands have a presence even at this edge of the kingdom, there are at least more individual shops than the typical high street. There seems to be quite an emphasis on good food and I enjoyed a coffee in a sort of deli where I spent quite a lot of money on nice things which are probably not healthy.
Lands End is covered in a blanket of fog. I found a quite pub near St Michaels Mount to enjoy a pasty and a pint of Tribute for lunch. I arrive in Falmouth with a few minutes to spare before Juju’s record store gig. This is enough time to try a local cream tea; a bit of a mistake as I end up feeling rather sick. A cream tea is rather substantial and not enough time had passed since lunch.
The record shop (obviously they don’t actually sell records anymore, but CD shop sounds less friendly) is cosy. Do not be mistaken, this is not the Virgin Mega store, but it has a nice atmosphere and the crowd are largely young. JuJu does a few songs and it’s all very nice.
After much chatting its time to rush over to Hayle for the evening gig soundcheck (well I don't need to rush, but Juju does). The fog mist and rain have now merged intoone and the trip is quite scary.
Little Fish on tour @ Corn Exchange Camborne
When Little Fish enjoyed a mini tour of Cornwall in the Summer I was in Rome. That tour was such a success that the fish have been invited back for a couple more dates. Tonight they at the Corn Exchange in Camborne; for those of you as ignorant of the geography of Cornwall as I was, Camborne is between Truro and Penzance. My route planner says its 4½ hours from West London. The M4 is tediously slow but the A30 from Exeter is much better and faster than I expected; I arrive not feeling particularly tired after a five hour drive. I have booked a hotel just down the road at Hayle. Being out of season the hotel is quite and good value. Everyone is welcoming and friendly: the guests in the hotel bar spend some time discussing where I should park in Camborne (it had not occurred to me that this would be difficult outside London). Whilst their directions sound rather complex, they turn out to be very useful when I arrive.
Camborne at 9pm on a Friday is teeming. There are hoards of underdressed girls (maybe boys as well but I remember them less vividly) this is what I assume the eastern European cities full of stag and hen weekends must be like, or just another night on the Cos del Sol. In this case though the girls in unseasonably short skirts are not 18-30s dressed as schoolgirls, but are actual teenagers attracted by an underage disco (there must be an excitingly trendy name for this.)
The Corn Exchange is a large venue with TVs showing football (from Spain I think) all over the place including behind the stage. At least the football has finished by Little Fish headline the evening, earlier bands are not so lucky. Lazily I did not note the first 3 bands although I watched them all and found them a pleasant warm up for the main event as support bands should be. The main support band was The Sycamores who gave a rousing and energetic show which drew me to taking a few pictures.
It’s after midnight when Little Fish start their set and the audience are already in high spirits. They, like me, enjoy a performance with the normal, but still amazing, energy. The set includes the new song Not That Easy and they respond to fervent demands for a encore with the second showing of Dead Man’s Shoes. I have actually heard an acoustic performance of Not That Easy; as with all the songs the lyrics and tunes make them enjoyable and memorable as acoustic versions, but when you add the power of drums and electric guitar they become unforgettable rock classics.
Surprisingly I’m not exhausted when I get back to hotel at 3ish.
Patti Smith @ Carling Academy Oxford
Its a very long time since I last saw Patti Smith. Suffice it to say that it was at the Rainbow in Finsbury Park; many of the audience tonight were not born when I last saw her play Privilege, Because the night, We Three and the absolutely divine 'Gloria'.
JuJu of Little Fish @ Freuds
Becks is the creator of the little fish logo, and most of their other cool artwork. He is an artist and has a show at the Freud Cafe in Oxford. It runs from Oct 7th - Nov 4th so if you're in Oxford go and have a look at his pictures in this cavernous cafe which used to be a church.
Today as an opening event for the Show, JuJu performs a few accoustic songs. The building has a nice ambience and lunchtime diners are treated to half a dozen songs including renditions of Jackie D, Perfect Stranger and as a special treat Error in the Sunrise. The staff worry that the singing is too loud and flap around. The paying customers carry on paying and clap approvingly and loudly.
Having arrived quite early to get a parking space I end up leaving around 5 after a relaxing afternoon chatting with a number of pleasant people including Jay from Family Machine who generously offered me cups of tea.
Little Fish @ the Jericho Tavern
Strange Evening with earlier bands competing with rugby (on a screen at the back). Then we get smoke and disco lighting for Little Fish....
Miraculously I've got a few pictures which are OK and JuJu's voice is not struck down by the smoke. The set is a bit short and ends with a new song which might be called 'I hate you'. On first hearing it is another winner. Little Fish have all the best tunes.
Carnival of Souls @ Paradise
Gus and Trepan Records seem to have no trouble filling the Paradise; this is not the first packed gig I have been to here. This time Johnny Burrell from Razorlight is playing a set, so I suppose it should be no surprise it is packed. Unfortunately I didn't realise he was a big star, and rather than fighting to take pictures at the front (in the rather dubious lights) I am at the back enjoying a pint of Spitfire.
I thought I deserved a drink after spending much of the Carnival of Souls set acting as a sort of photographer bouncer, holding back the surging crowd who threatened to overturn the keyboards fragiley balanced on the front of the smallish stage. This is achieved by placing a foot firmly against the base of the stage and leaning slightly back. Here my experience photographing in the pogoing days of 1978 come in handy.
The lighting is pointing at the ground in front of the stage and the band is occasionally lit by a projector. This is a trend largely confined to west london although I have seen a couple of other cases.
