Garcia at the Camden Eye followed by Straighten Out at the Dublin Castle

My plan had been to go to a gig for three consecutive nights. As it turned out I did four gigs in three days because I met Woody at the Dublin Castle who said that his band were doing another free gig at the Camden Eye at 4 pm next day. Which suited me fine as I could then go on from that to the Dublin Castle for a gig starting at 7:30.

So I duly turned up to see Garcia playing, with a new drummer. Or at least a replacement one for this performance. Their regular man being in Budapest. All I can say is one wouldn't have known if Carlos hadn't told us. It also sounded very tight.

Given this gig had no real publicity and wasn't listed as even existing on the Eye's own website, the room was not exactly crowded. For the first half the audience essentially sat on benches all around the room and so we were just a little into double figures. But a highly appreciative little gathering for this display of excellently performed classic rock covers.

Carlos really has it all, plays a real mean guitar, seriously good, with an excellent voice and has the looks to boot. Some guys have it all. Oh, and very pretty girlfriend. Quelle surprise.

Woody does not quite dress in stereotypical Geordie fashion...

After a break for a drink and maybe a fag they returned for more of the same - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, Johnny B Goode, LA Woman, Pretty Woman. The audience swelled a bit, and then a bit more as a group of lads out on the piss turned up. And they had a whale of a time dancing to these tunes in quite a Northern Soul fashion. Very decent dancers all the more impressive as holding a pint at the same time. Anyway, they really made the afternoon complete. 

Garcia sound wonderful - all they lack is an audience. It will come.

That complete, and after a chat with the band, I had a sushi as dinner and headed to the Dublin Castle for my second gig of the day. Previous night ticket said doors open at 7:30 but actually first act was on at 7:15. Tonight tickets again stated 7:30 but this time doors didn't open until 8! 

But being first in I could grab myself a pew, literally a recycled church pew as that is the seating available at the Dublin Castle. Normally I like to be at the front but this time I thought I would take a place at the back. "Back" here means about 3 metres from the stage, so one hardly needs binoculars. This is what it looks like empty. But the venue soon filled. It was packed.

Oh, and another contrast to modern venue like Outhere that I went to on Thursday night. Outhere as ultramodern toilets that you need to work out where the taps and driers are as they are hi-tec affairs. Dublin Castle loos are the other end of the spectrum. If they look grotty, trust me they are worse in real life!

Anyway, onto the gig itself. No support, straight into Straighten Out, who are a (according to their blurb, the) premier Stranglers tribute act. I did think the audience might be largely people my age. In fact it was almost entirely people my age and older. I guess we are talking folk who were teenage punks in the seventies and now pensioner punks. A sea of bald  heads bobbed before me, pogoing and spiky haircuts being rather beyond them nowadays.😀

The band did a very reasonable impression of the real thing, concentrating on the Stranglers' earlier, heavier, punk oeuvre. Which is fine if you like that sort of thing. So Peaches, No More Heroes, Nice and Sleazy, all great punk classics. But I must admit I also like a lot of their later much more melodic stuff like Skin Deep, Always the Sun, Duchess, none of which was touched. Indeed they only played what was by far their best known song, Golden Brown, because a lady went up and specially requested it. I guess this gig appealed to hardcore fans, not so much the generalist like me. So they were certainly good, but to be honest I was getting bored by the end. Of my four gigs in three days, this was the least enjoyable to me. But the crowd seemed very happy.

So end of gigs. Theatre tomorrow night....






 

The Ariston, Ace Persona, Belle Dame and Oswald Slain at the Dublin Castle

Second night in a row at a gig. I plan to do two today - 4 gigs in three days feels pretty devoted!

This was a line up of miscellaneous indie acts, none of whom I had ever heard of, so had no idea what to expect. What I certainly didn't expect was to arrive at time of doors open to find the first act announcing he had just two more songs. His audience was 10 (all at the back of the room), which from look of photo below seems rather sad. But given he was set off to start quarter of an hour before the advertised time on the tickets for the gig opening, he was lucky to get that!

Dublin Castle is not a slick professional operation. But it does put on a lot of good music. Apology for quality of photos - my camera is still awaiting repair, and the lighting at the Dublin Castle is appalling for photos. (In contrast, for a small venue the sound is very good. And if you had to choose one or the other, well....)

Anyway, this solo artist playing to an empty room was called Nick Shane. From Dundee. Singer songwriter. Frankly left zero impression on me.

Second act was Oswald Slain, and I expected from the name to be more of the same, ie bloke strumming guitar. I could not have been more wrong! Not a solo artist called Oswald, but a full band. Named after Lee Harvey Oswald, who was assassinated of course, hence Oswald Slain. And they were terrific, despite the unpromising look of a hairy tubby guy and a miscellany of musicians. But once they started playing I really warmed to them. Musically they were very good, lead singer's vocals were good as supplemented by the girl next to him also on guitar. Lovely buxom lady on drums (nice to see a female drummer!).

Just sounded great, but with added bonus of nice unassuming sense of humour between songs. Got to love a band who finish on a song called Happiness is Overrated. Probably most proficient act of the night. Why so early on the bill then? I think because they were from Bristol and had to get home!

Third band also from Bristol, Belle Dame. Good but rather different kettle of fish. 

For one thing, they didn't feel like a band, but rather a duo - the guys below - plus a couple of session musicians. Which the guy on the left below pretty much admitted in the sense that he said they were playing London for the first time with this line up having added the drummer and bass guitarist. The two "old members" had some rapport, and both played guitar and did vocals with equal competence. And they did have a distinctive style. Not a band I would choose to go and see, but if they appeared on a bill of a gig I was attending I wouldn't be unhappy.

Penultimate act were the Ariston, and this just felt and looked a more professional outfit. They even had a guy help them set up and videoed their set. They were certainly by far the most photogenic band of the night, hence the greater number of photos! They just looked really cool. Very indie guitar band, good enough, but anything special? Honestly don't know. I think you need to listen to songs multiple times before you can determine whether they have good hooks or not. So at this stage, I would just describe them as competent. "By this stage" I mean my stage in listening not so much their stage in musical development. Strong vocals at least.

The good looking lad in the white sweatshirt came up to thank me for coming (its a small gig and I am at the front) and we had a little chat, from which I prised out of him that they have a headline gig at Dingwalls in July. So if I am free I will test them out properly. He also said they had been asked to fill in this gig at the last moment, so in truth they might really have been the headline act in terms of merit and following.

Final act was a local Camden band called Ace Persona. they did feel a bit of a comedown from the previous act, in part just a question of my taste in music. I don't like rap, and they introduced quite a bit in their songs. Also vocalist had quite a flat voice, and generally there was a real dip in energy from The Ariston.

And on the way out I recognised a bloke at the bar - easily recognised by the fuzzy hair and extremely hippy garb. It was Woody from the band Garcia that I had seen (and met) a few weeks earlier. So had a chat, and he said he was doing a free gig at the Camden Eye again at 4pm tomorrow. Well as I have another gig at the Dublin Castle in the evening, why not do both I thought. So I will! 😃

Murder Capital and Cusk at Outernet

Another thumbs up for live music. 

Luka and I arrived at doors open, and there was quite a wait before the first act arrived. But a couple of pints later, on came Cusk. I thought they were quite accomplished, but Luka enthused massively about them. The lead singer had perfected the "I've just got out of bed and am wearing my boyfriend's shirt" look. A bit of research found that she is also an actress, Esme Creed-Miles. To Luka's chagrin, they weren't on spotify, but had cassettes on sale. How retro is that? 

But main act were Murder Capital. Luka said he had just listened to their latest album, Blindness, and was far from impressed. I have played it a lot more and while I wouldn't say it was their best, its not too bad. As he and I discussed, they seem to be heading more towards slower ballads than the stuff we like about them, with discordant guitar intros. Anyway Luka should have been disappointed as the set did go heavy on the new album.

Actually from my perspective, standing at the front as is my wont, the gig had a very distinct pattern, storming start, a real dip with some slower numbers and then an upturn. Luka, who as Murder Capital started had divested himself of jacket and jumper onto yours truly, headed into the mosh pit, and said he was really grateful for the"dip" as it gave the crowd a bit of a breather. I could see (either by turning round, or more by watching the screen which frequently showed the mosh pit), quite how vigorous a crowd it was. One could observe them going mental on "More is Less", the second song of the night. 

At any rate, despite his initial misgivings, Luka said he had a great night. Hence my initial comment - a thumbs up for live music. It is a very different experience than just listening to an album cold.  I certainly enjoyed the experience. My guess is that this was fourth or fifth time I have seen the band. I would go again!

I think that is young Luka in profile on the right of picture 

 Oh and additional plus points at the venue. Compared to many places I go, the toilets are amazingly clean and hi-tech. Most pub venues look like they are crack dens.

We popped across the road to a pub for an after gig drink and a chat. All I can say is Thursdays really are the new Fridays,. They were pulling pints as fast as they could.

And got home from Tottenham Court Road (which the venue is right next to) amazingly quickly. Very satisfactory night. Now just have to persuade Luka to go to some more gigs with me as he in London for a while. But meanwhile I intend to do two more gigs, both at Dublin Castle, over next two nights. Watch this space!