overlap

After the Blissfields Festival got cancelled at a fairly late stage, it was possible that the warm-up gig would have been cancelled, though happily it all went ahead as something else got found to fill in the Blissfields date. There's always something about the first show of more than one, in this case the first of three, though I was only going to make it two. Running into people I've not seen for a while, catching up on what's going on in other people's lives, and getting a decent gig on top is a good way to spend an evening. For non-locals, a gig on a boat is an additional novelty, for a guitarist who has spent some time without picking up a guitar on account of getting on with the more important business of fatherhood, it's a pleasant change even with a troubled hand and with an early start for an early curfew for a club night to follow, there was an outside chance I'd get an earlyish night, but as it happened... In what seems to be an ongoing routine of support bands with questionable names, I sat through The Weary Band because I like support bands, and I don't want to miss something I might like. Starting off like the more bouncy jangly indie of The Candyskins, we sort of lost our way a bit by the end of the set. Nothing outstanding either way, but you never know when a band is going to write the next great song. The Wonder Stuff romped through nearly ninety minutes of a set comprising a predictable selection of songs, all of them hit at full speed, with Donation in particular rocking the boat. The curfew meant that it was a pretty focused set, hit after hit after classic album track, and the set finished a mere twenty five minutes after the arbitrary curfew. Somehow the early night turned into getting home at 1.30 via some late night shopping in the 24 hour supermarket, but then I did have the next day off. Four hours of the afternoon were spent enjoying the motorways between here and the East Midlands, and the rarity value of not driving to and from the gig meant itself somehow combined with half a bottle of wine. For unknown support bands with iffy names, at least The Weary Band is understandable from the stage. But perfect diction and audio clarity (or a glut of flyers!) is required to understand what The Fideal Efect are called. The guitarist looks like Lofty Holloway re-styled by Radiohead, the singer has armfuls of star tattoos and a certain presence but even now while I'm listening to them on myspace, I'm struggling to pin them down. It's a bit like a slowed down Bennet with more of those horrible RadioFerdinandPatrol held down chord shapes strummed relentlessly than any band really needs, ie some, but it'll be interesting to see if they can come up with any more memorable songs from this vaguely promising start. The headline set was marginally less loud but noticeably hotter, and it is a funny little place for a gig. Not quite hitting the previous night's heights, possibly down to needing a little more ventilation or cool air movement, but still a more than proficient way to race through nearly ninety minutes of great songs. Somehow I never tire of Mission Drive, or Disco King, or Blah Blah La di Dah, or On The Ropes for that matter. And even getting back out to the motorway wasn't that tricky, despite the less than circular nature of Derby's ring road! * "I'm just two legs of the groove machine" is from Radio Ass Kiss

Labels: gigs, The Wonder Stuff