Week 3: Adam Green - Dingwalls, Camden

The third gig of our New Year's Resolution was a real treat for myself, Adam Green at Dingwalls.  I grew up listening to the Moldy Peaches, have had a crush on Kimya Dawson for years, and have long wanted to see her, him or both live at the same time!  A few bonus attendees at this event meant a few more beers than normal prior to the gig, along with it's timing on a Friday night meant the images of the gig are less than impressive.  I promise to make much more of an effort, either by taking a better camera or by standing much closer to the front, at least for a little bit of the gig.

Adam was dressed as a sailor?  Maybe as Adam Ant?  Maybe as Jean Valjean?  Who knows.  He looked splendid.  Frilly and in full front man mode.  He had an accompanying guitarist so had no need to bother with any of the playing instrument malarky that often puts front men off.  The gig was busy, we turned up late.  Then we were disappointed to find out he was only playing for an hour and we'd already missed the first ten minutes.  Not to be dissuaded we tried to get to the front only to be scuppered by the strange array of low-level barriers which Dingwall's is (in)famous for.

When we were finally settled, in true Adam Green style he bowled and lurched around the stage, sung in his deep resonant voice and played some of his big tunes.  I've had Emily stuck in my head all week.  It was a real treat, not quite under the £15 budget Simon and I established, but great value nonetheless.

Week 2: Laura J Martin - The Sebright Arms, Hackney

So, on to the next gig.  This time at one of my favourite venues, The Sebright Arms.  I think it's because of the range of beers that I like The Sebright rather than for it being a great venue.  It does have a bar downstairs though, it saves a walk upstairs and is the reason why I woke up the next day with a steaming hangover.

The support band for Laura were Left With Pictures.  Involving lots of lads (five) on a small stage.  I was instantly impressed by their range of instruments: two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer and a chap hidden at the back playing a violin, as a violinist in my younger days, this fact instantly tugged at my heart-strings.  Later in the set the guitarists moved between mouth organ and keyboards, swapping instruments and generally giving a warm sound.  The two guitarists took turns to lead the singing - one sounding like Paul Smith of Maximo Park (or so Simon thought), the other sounding more like Ben Folds.  They played what I would describe as 'cowboy-folk' with a mischievous Belle & Sebastian, plinky-plonky edge.  Their quality was already much above the gig of last week and left me looking forward to Laura.

Laura J Marlin bustled on to the stage with an awkward shyness, this continued throughout the set, something I found endearing.  As you may be able to see from the above (terrible) picture, she's a flautist, and very talented she is too.  Managing to record loops of herself with foot pedals, building up a clever, choppy, aggressive flute medley.  In addition to this, she had an accompanying cellist and the obligatory drummer - he was only involved occasionally, a nice change from the normally loud and bangy bands I tend to watch.  Charming and Scouse, with a range of songs in both tempo and style, she reminded me of Regina Spektor (apart from the Scouse part), this might be a rather lazy comparison that will often be made, but if the shoe fits.  Indeed, it reminded me of a gig I once saw at the Leadmill up in Sheffield where the audience was deathly quiet.  The same atmosphere was in evidence here, you could here a pin drop.  Simon and I were both very impressed with young Laura.  I'll be looking out for again, perhaps on the festival circuit later this year.

Week 1: Let's Wrestle - The Lexington, Islington

So, the first gig in our odyssey of gig going this year saw an aborted attempt to go to an acoustic night down in a bar in Balham called The Three Monkeys.  There was an advert for an afternoon cocktail session with an (unnamed) band performing an acoustic set.  Having travelled all the way down there, we were disappointed to find the bar empty, not only of customers, but also of bands.  Not to fear, we retired to the nearby Bedford and had a couple of pints and played Cluedo - an evening well spent.

The following Tuesday (still crucially within week one of 2014), Simon and I had already booked tickets to see the first of four of the Fortuna Pop's Winter Sprinter nights at The Lexington.  The bands on show tonight: Let's Wrestle, Evans the Death and Mega Emotion.

Arriving late (as per usual) we were treated to a lovely crescendo of the three band members of Mega Emotion, each smashing a set of drums.  Wishing we'd seen more of them, we headed back downstairs for a top up and a smoke.

Next up, a band called Evans the Death.  Simon, convinced he'd heard them before, decided to stay downstairs and have another pint.  Not to be dissuaded, I headed up to listen to them.  I was met with a standard four piece with a tall blonde lead singer with a voice not dissimilar to the lead singer form the Dance Hall Crashers.  The innocent looking band, carved through a few tracks and I left a little underwhelmed.

Headlining the bill, one of my favourites bands of last year, were Let's Wrestle.  An amusing, if inauspicious start, where the lead singer managed to snap a string and then steal one of the support band member's guitar to carry on.  I like Let's Wrestle.  I was a big fan of 'There's a Rockstar In My Room', infectious and loud (which apparently came out in 2011 - nice one Jimmy, keeping up with the kids!).  I have to be honest and say I was underwhelmed by them, I don't know if it's The Lexington or their performance but it didn't quite catch my attention.  The lead singer is amusing and charismatic, unfortunately, they didn't play my favourite song and stuck to their newer stuff.

What's This All About?

One gig a week, every week in 2014.

Me and my friend Simon like going to watch live music and do so regularly.  However, I noticed in the last year or so that I was getting a little blasé about the whole thing so I've set Simon and myself a little target: one gig a week, every week in 2014.  Simon seems up for this so I thought I'd write down our exploits in this blog.  I've established a set of rules (well they're more like guidelines really) which will govern who we see:

• The gigs should cost less than £10
• Neither Simon or I should have seen the band before
• Venues should be dirty, smelly and have sticky floors
• No country & western

Wish us luck!