14 November 2011: Yuck - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, England, UK

I've been waiting a long time for this and it turned out to be extra special.

I Missed most of Fanzine (early starts - again) but the last two numbers sounded good and they should be well worth another listen.

Yuck appeared at about half eight and set up their own kit and back banner. Another 15-20 minutes passed before the lights dimmed and the band reappeared, fully instrumented and ready to roll.



They started with Dinosaur Jr. sound-a-like, Holing Out before crashing into The Wall, at which point I'd expected the crowd to mosh into a frenzy. Strangely, and I've noticed this more and more recently, there was very little crowd movement at all tonight. If it'd been 1990, there'd have been no place to hide from the mosh pit.

Shook down then mellowed us out again, with the lovely lyric "And it's been a week.
And it's been a week too long" which just seems to be one of those lines that strikes that special chord.

Georgia sped it up again and raced us into a beautifully accoustic Suicide Policeman, which seems to be everyones favourite Yuck tune.

Milkshake was a suprise becasue I'd not heard it before, but it pressed all the right buttons in all the right places.

There seemed to be a bit of an issue with the guitars during Get Away, but I didn't notice anything out of place and it sounded like rainbows to me.

I think Soothe Me was a new song, but once again it all fitted together nicely and was a great addition to the bands arsenal.

I think it was Daniel that related the story of how, on the bands first tour, they used to play all these far away places and then travel back to stay at their friends house in Nottingham. So they'd play Glasgow and then drive back to Nottingham to save money. I love these little info-snips that bands give out when they come to a town, it gives a you a piece of their lives which you don't get if you don't go to the gigs.

Operation was next, a Sonic Youth inspired aural assault with lead vocal duties switched.

They closed by announcing that these were the last two songs and then played us out slowly with Stutter and then mashed us up completely with a long, long version of Rubber, which fed back deliciously and left the ears ringing nicely at the end of the night.

Much better than I'd expected and I'd expected a lot. The Jesus and Mary Chain better watch out, Yuck are coming to steal your noise pop feedback crown....[more]

02 April 2011: IQ - The Robin 2, Bilston, England, UK

My first IQ gig and it was a bit of a special one - the first of their 30th anniversary shows. There was no support band at this gig, instead we got a slideshow of photographs from the past 30 years projected on three screens playing as the band arrived onstage to play a two hour-long set with a few surprises...

Despite a recent lineup change (the addition of Neil Durant on keyboards and return of Tim Esau on bass), the band sounded well rehearsed and professional. Peter Nicholls' onstage presence is incredible to watch - direct and confrontational with a more subtle and emotional edge to his voice. All of this is contrasted by his onstage banter with the rest of the band, genuinely relaxed and witty with the ability to put the audience at ease...[more]

12 March 2011: Levellers + The Wonderstuff - Rock City, Nottingham, England, UK

Has it really been twenty years?

The Wonderstuff arrived on stage at a very early 10 to seven-ish and blazed there way through a greatest hits package which included “Welcome to the Cheap Seats”, “Give, Give, Give Me More, More, More” and “Don't Let Me Down, Gently”. Thankfully there was no “Dizzy” (at least from what I heard - I missed the first few minutes), which I was dreading, and the packed crowd really enjoyed the set, and judging by the look on...[more]