I believe this was a rather hastily arranged affair, which should in turn me that it was a shambles. But it wasn't. From the initial shock of the place being pretty much full (it's been a while since I've seen a gig here, so my usual scepticism may be unfounded. Though there's word that Clutch may well be playing there sometime in June - keep your eyes open)
But I've not forgone enough of my shambles to actually catch the first band, so in time honoured fashio, they've come and gone and I don't know their name. The more things change ...
I don't really catch much of And The Answer ..., what I do, well, it's kind of fun, but it's too knock about, not enough substance at the moment to gain my attention. It's about fun and maybe fun is enough, but ask me to tell you anything about them, and apart from the bassist commiting the heinous crime of playing a Flying V bass (a flying V fucking bass I ask you, should be shot), I can't remember anything.
Finally it's Dai Lo. Things appeared to have stood still for a long time, but now it looks like they're begining to pick up. Tonight I guess is a warm up really for their forthcoming tour with Dog Fashion Diso, and they've recently been in the studio recording a 2 track single, which I believe should be available for purchase at the gigs (though there's only 499 of them, CD's not gigs, that would be some tour!)
They start off with a new one which I didn't recognise, but I'm reliably informed afterwards that it was Misery Machine, one of the tracks from the aforementioned CD, but it's after this they begin to hit their stride. Warhead remains the only one of the old songs that's aired. Bit of a shame, but on the other hand, the new material is begining to make more and more sense. It's not as immediate as their older stuff, which may be a problem on the forthcoming gigs (who am I to suggest that people have too short attention er something), but after a few listens, it starts to worm it's way in. Personal favourite is Close, which seems to see Shaun getting more personal and emotive than on some of the other more bombastic 100mph vocals tracks. Green Umbrella is the other track on the CD, and Push is perhaps the most immediate of the newer tracks. But tonight it makes much more sense, it's probably the best I've seen them yet, though maybe Shaun needs to stop crouching quite as much as he does and project a bit more.
It's taken a while, but it looks like the material is begining to get there, and maybe even begining to see the light of day, and the opportunities to get out and tour are there. Next is just the simple task of gaining people's attention ....