Friday 28 February 2014

February Gigs

These are the gigs I attended in February 2014:

13 Warm Widow / Salford Media City / Groves @ Kraak Gallery
14 Hotpants Romance one minute past midnight Valentines day gatecrash @ Kraak

15 Carefully Planned All Dayer @ Gullivers
     Bilge Pump / Papayer / Gurgles / Elk / Faitala / Paddy Steer / Yarbo / Silent Front

18 Sly and the Family Drone / Silent Front / Workin' Man Noise Unit / Groves @ Wahlbar

26 Trash Kit / Sex Hands / Ill @ Gullivers

27 Father Murphy / Locean / Ten Mouth Electron / Leda and the Swan @ Eagle Inn


Best performances: Bilge Pump and Warm Widow (Leeds 6, Manchester 6)

Best Band I'd never heard before: Silent Front

Best riff: "Childless" by Warm Widow

Audience participation: Sly and the Family Drone had nearly everyone in Wahlbar basement playing drums along with their evil tribal Melvins go noise racket, even me.

Strangest Instruments: Paddy Steer's home made space jazz contraptions, including an old telephone channeling the voice of Saturn and a unique noise box called a Vomit Cat played by a man in a red Stooges T-shirt in Workin' Man Noise Unit.

Two bands twice: Groves and Silent Front

Busiest musician: Sadie of Ill and Salford Media City and Ten Mouth Electron and Ding.
Best Venue: Kraak Gallery

Best Drinks: Wildwood organic cider at Kraak and Old Rosie strong cider at Eagle Inn.

Best costume: Paddy Steer in full home made Sun Ra style garb.

Best heckle: When Matt BG was interviewing Paddy he asked what all his machines were. Paddy said no one really wanted to know but the heckles proved otherwise and he had to reveal his secrets.

Best drummer: Neil Turpin of Bilge Pump.

Worst drummer: me

Nicest moment: a hug from a lady young enough to be my daughter whilst Hotpants Romance played "Heatwave."

Nastiest Moment: A fellow collapsed whilst Trash Kit were playing but they stopped until everyone knew he was OK.

Worst smell: The vile stench of the gents toilet in the Eagle Inn.

Most annoying person: the vocalist of a band whose name I forgot (not a band playing that night) whose pathetic attempts to sexually harrass me at the Warm Widow gig were even more laughable than how pleased he is with himself he seems for being able to put two words together. Here are two for him: grow up.

Six Silent Childless Groves

This month has been dominated by the excellence of the new albums by Thalia Zedek and Warm Widow and I wouldn't have really needed anththing else new to listen to at all, however it was great to discover the Fugazi fan friendly Silent Front who have been kicking up a racket for years, and get hold of the similarly inclined Groves CDR. Buy it from them at a gig for a mere two quid.

New albums I enjoyed:

Thalia Zedek - Six  CD (6 songs)
http://www.thrilljockey.com/thrill/Thalia-Zedek/#.Uw-K8PRdWT4

Warm Widow - Childless LP (8 songs)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU1oRGG3uNM&list=PL02736E1C25086212

Silent Front - Trust LP (8 songs)
www.silentfront.co.uk

Groves CDR (7 songs)
www.grovestheband.bandcamp.com

Oldies from a Silent Front gig, King Bee Records and a charity shop for African capitalist casualties:

Silent Front - Dead Lake LP 2010

Fuzz Against Junk CD 2003

Ministry - Greatest Fits 2001 CD (bargain of the month at 30p)

Sonic Youth - Live at the Continental 1986 CD

The Damned - Thanks for the night / Nasty / Do the Blitz 12" EP

Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970, 2010 CD remaster)