Well, well. In early 2006 I handed a folded ticket (worth 5 or 6 pounds) to the doorman of the Nexus; a student-favoured dive of a rock club sadly lost to the march of âprogressâ.
I stood with my nose pressed against the stage as a stocky, dreadlocked man towered over me. His band played a dirty, scuzzy brand of metal brimming with an infectious reggae vibe and rhythm.
That band was Skindred and on Wednesday - almost a decade on - I witnessed them slay an audience 10 times the size of the Nexus crowd with a set worthy of just about any arena in the land.
Every Time I Die were pretty mental at The Talking Heads last night. Ended the gig with both footprints and blood upon my person, not to mention a very tender shoulder, a sizeable bump on the back of my head and a little mild concussion.
Shakey Graves is playing the UK for the first time!
Full Tour Dates at www.shakeygraves.com/tour and below:
||| 2016 UK/EU Tour Dates |||
Apr 21 - Dublin, IRL - Whelanâs
Apr 22 - Belfast, UK - McHughâs Bar
Apr 23 - Glasgow, UK - The Hug and Pint
Apr 25 - Manchester, UK - The Deaf Institute
Apr 26 - Birmingham, UK - O2 Institute Birmingham
Apr 27 - London, UK - Dingwalls
Apr 29 - Paris, FRA - Le Pop-Up du Label
Apr 30 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso Amsterdam
May 2 - Cologne, DEU - Studio 672
May 3 - Munich, DEU - Ampere
May 4 - Zurich, CHE - Bar Rossi
May 5 - Vienna, AUT - Club Chelsea, Vienna
May 7 - Hamburg, DEU - Nochtspeicher
May 8 - Berlin, DEU - PRIVATCLUB Berlin
Headed out to Roundhouse for some heighten security (sure itâs the first time Iâve been metal detectored going into a gig).
First half they played their new album with a film playing in the foreground. Quite haunting. Then a bit of a break and onto the hits. Over two hours too. Unfortunately a giant happened to stand in front of me.
Iâve had some trying moments in recent weeks. Deadlines. Scraping an alloy on a hire car. The death of a papmobile. In all cases, a happy little bubble floats up, pops, and says âyouâve got Glastonbury tickets, guvâ.
Annoys people? With his tedious music and âcheeky chappyâ presenting. I am getting to an age where some of the new music and people associatedwith it pass me by but unfortunately Olly just got in there before that happened.
Forgot to post it, but saw Richard Hawley at Roundhouse last week.
Really cracking show, was a bit disappointed with his latest album. Not that it was bad, I just wanted him to carry on with the more expansive sound of his last album, Standing at the Skyâs Edge.
Still, played all the songs I love him for, was on cracking form as usual and led an impeccably observed minutes silence (was remembrance Sunday).