Bath on Saturday morning, Dublin Castle in the evening

Typically the morning of my return to London from Bath coincided with a decided upturn in the weather. So Tim and I went for a walk across Bath in search of brunch. And there are not many nicer cities to walk across.

Although renowned for Georgian terraces rather more than its canals, honestly the canals are a picturesque delight

Pulteney Bridge

After taking in an exhibition of Georgian satirical watercolours, I duly made my way back home to London and then out again to a gig at the Dublin Castle. The latter did not start auspiciously as the venue opened half an hour after advertised and it became clear that the late start was because the first act had scratched. When the other support came on, the lead vocalist hoarsely announced that he had lost his voice and proceeded to manfully whisper his way through their reggae set.

Natural Light (or possibly Natural Right, didn't catch his whispers..).

However the main act, Ska Face, made up for all that. They were terrific. A real hoot with a set full of crowd pleasers. At least if you like ska. They did a mass of ska covers like Too Much Too Young, Message to you Rudy, Too Much Pressure, Madness, On My Radio and fittingly some Madness covers like Baggy Trousers and their closing number Night Boat to Cairo. Fitting because Madness used to play the Dublin Castle and they have a plaque outside the pub boasting that. 

The band also played a few non-ska songs that might at least be described as "ska adjacent", like A Town Called Malice and Start by the Jam and Dexy's Midnight Runners' Geno. All played by a brilliant band ranging from early middle age to pensioners. Very impressed that they could squeeze an 8 piece band onto such a small stage. And they were not a skinny outfit!