Billy Bragg brings his beautiful tunes to Band on the Wall

 Part of the pleasure of seeing politico-pop veteran Billy Bragg is that it's still possible to see him "up close and personal" (metaphorically speaking) and not in some impersonal, concrete aircraft hangar with warm, canned beer at outrageous prices.

 A favourite artist in a favourite venue - it was guaranteed to be a good night out. And indeed it was.

Mr B was on good form, and embarrassing his backing keyboard/guitarist by pointing out that his Mum and Dad were in the audience was such a funny parent-moment (well for the audience anyway!). Having listened to the new album and not being wholly convinced, hearing it live was a conversion moment. It's rarely left the CD player (yes, I have a CD player not an ipod) and it gets better with every hearing. Combine that with some old favourites and it was an all-round great gig.

Oh, and I know he's getting older but this seemed a bit over-cautious....

 For those who haven't yet had the pleasure, the Band on the Wall is a fab venue. Not only does it serve great food and real ale, including local brews, it is also a non-profit charity that offers amazing opportunities and facilities for anyone interested in pursuing a career in music/production and music-related projects. So not only a great night out but one that helps support aspiring musicians, too - you can have a great night out safe in the knowledge that it's all in a good cause :-)
(did I mention the real ale? Just checking.).

Gig update! SB6, Hadouken, Bleach Blood, Sharks, Current Swell, the Skints

Lots of gigs since April, too!

Sonic Boom Six and Hadouken at Manchester Academy
A perfect pairing of two of our fave bands :-)

Take a look at the new SB6 video and, for anyone who likes a bit of drum and bass, crank it up loud and have a listen to Hadouken's Levitate.

A great night followed by a trip down memory lane with a visit to Big Hands on Oxford Road. In our day it was Champers and served carafes of killer red wine, usually accompanied by large slabs of garlic pizza bread (presumably so our stomachs didn't completely disintegrate). Champers holds a special place in my heart as it was where Pete and I had our first kiss (awww!) so it's fun to go back there and find it hasn't changed that much (well, to be fair, it does serve a rather wider range of beverages and the dodgy red wine has gone!). Happy Days!

Bleach Blood and Sharks
Bleach Blood features as its lead singer former King Blues guitarist Jamie Jazz. The band's set was short but punchy and the new songs are impressive with a very slick and powerful performance for a relatively new band. If you fancy checking them out, you can grab a download of their four-track EP FREE! and as it includes my personal fave track, Anything Anything, I'd highly recommend it.

Sharks delivered a great performance and it would have been great to hear more from them but sadly the band announced their split shortly after this gig :(  (pretty sure it wasn't anything to do with us, honest!)

Current Swell
We did miss the very start of this set and my first thoughts were eek, country and western (not my genre of choice by any stretch - me and Robert Plant nearly had to part company over Alison Kraus). However, my bad, this was an unfair early judgement. Hailing from British Columbia the band describe themselves as acoustic rock, blues, reggae and, having heard the rest of the set, that was fair for sure. If I tell you I bought the CD even tho' I had to fight my way back up two flights of heaving full stairs to get it, you'll get an idea what I thought!

The Skints
Our second outing to see the Skints and Marcia and the band did not in any way disappoint. Knitting afficionados note the stylish take on the Fairisle sweater as sported by drummer Jamie in this video - nice!

Yes, we're in a video!

A music video no less!

See if you can spot Pete and I in the crowd in Sonic Boom Six's latest release, Keep on Believin' (hint: Look for the familiar pink hair in the darts-crowd sequence and Pete at the back).

This latest track from the awesome album, the eponymously titled "Sonic Boom Six", is released today. Check out the band's website for more info....

(And if you happen to be a Scuzz TV viewer, you may just catch us on there, too!) A definite (if unexpected) big tick on the Bucket List!

Imperial Leisure (x 2)

(No, this is not a trick photo - I really am that small!)

 Not content with seeing London-based Punk-Ska-Rock band Imperial Leisure once, we liked them so much we caught up with them twice in one week!

Charismatic, larger than life and with a sound to match, this is one excellent band! (And don't be fooled by the t-shirts - IL are anything but average!).

Here they are at Manchester Academy...

 And at the Cockpit, Leeds...

Oh, and the band are keen supporters of Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) and their t-shirts are promoting the Save the Male Campaign.

To quote the charity "The campaign against living miserably (CALM) exists to prevent male suicide in the UK.  Suicide accounted for the deaths of more young men in England & Wales in 2011 than road death, murder and HIV/AIDs combined." 

Calm are a small charity, tackling a big problem, and there are events, music and loads of great stuff on their site, so whether this is an issue that affects you directly, indirectly or not, it's well worth a visit.

If energetic punk-ska-rock is your thing, check out Imperial Leisure here....

Gigs, gigs and more gigs! The Feud

Just going back over the rest of the photos for 2012 and found a whole host of gigs I'd forgotten to blog about! (If you're not into gig stuff, feel free to skip ahead a couple of posts!).

Local band, The Feud, opened the evening with a great set. I liked it so much I bought the CD!

Apologies for the lack of drummer photos but, as always, drummers are the trickiest to catch - to make up for it, we got a great pic of me with all the band (including the drummer) after the gig.

Check out their most recent track here.....

And last (but by no means least!)...The Peatbog Faeries

Taking the mood way, way north of the border for our final gig of the week and it's the turn of electro-modern folk band from the Isle of Skye, The Peatbog Faeries. The gig was at the Waterside in Sale, a far cry from Club Academy. Of particular note (apart from the band, obviously) was the interval, complete with - wait for it - yes, pre-ordered interval drinks! Very civilised for a gig! We felt quite decadent collecting our drinks whilst watching the bar queue stretch further along the bar. Awesome!

Don't let this fool you, tho'. The band turned out some great tunes and the crowd were loud and enthusiastic. Judging by the amount of dancing that was going on, Pete appears to be fully recovered from his broken foot! Check out the Naughty Step if you're not sure how it goes when a bagpipe-toting, pipe and violin-playing band, complete with one member sans shoes and another with a part-missing digit, get together and rock it out!

The Naughty Step..

Why do great gigs all come together in three's like buses? Sheesh, I'm off to rest my dancin' feet ('til Sonic Boom Six next week anyway....)

A musical week part two

Swapping our reggae rhythms for something completely different!

Next up, And You Will Know Us By the Trail Of Dead. Not for the faint of heart, this US Post-hardcore Rock band from Austin, Texas did Club Academy proud with their customary blend of full-on rock, passionate stage show  and powerful message (the new work is dedicated to Russian punk band Pussy Riot). With tracks from their latest album, Lost Songs, along with some classics from my personal favourite album, Worlds Apart, it was an ear-ringing sweat-fest of a night.
And you have to love a band where the roadie takes over on guitar while one of the band joins the crowd, belting it out from the floor!