The Dome – Down At The Front

Spook School

Paul Hudson — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 13:02:34 +0000

What a brilliant Christmas present. As they closed their ‘final’ show in 2019, the band headed off to the Moon for their new life. Back from the Moon to pick up some essential supplies, the Spook School showed they had lost none of their charm and humour. Hopefully, they will return back from the moon soon.

Savoy Motel and Black Mountain

Paul Hudson — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 15:01:13 +0000

Tonight I put on my flares, tank top, grew my hair long and headed back to the 1970s for two different bands both equally influences by the 1970s.

First up was Savoy Motel at Rough Trade East. On first listen, I wasn’t sure if I liked their album. It was a little bit too funky but live, sounded great. They’re a tight and talented band playing with a real quality

Quickly heading up to the Dome for the second 70s inspired band, the excellent Black Mountain. They’re a band steeped in 70s bands like Pink Floyd and Zeppelin. They’re a really good live band. Tight and talented.

Martha

Paul Hudson — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 20:04:23 +0000

An excellent evening of fun pop indie with Martha playing the Dome in Tufnell Park. Martha playing possibly their biggest headline gig, were up for a fun evening, as were the crowd. Support was from Happy Accident

British Summer Time Pop-up

Paul Hudson — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 20:52:55 +0000

The annual British Summer Time events in Hyde Park seem to get bigger each year. Advertised at the last minute was this packed programme of ‘new’ music. Sadly, it was moved at the very last minute from the park. I had been looking forward to a day out in the sun but the Boston Dome was a good substitute as it allowed them to make best use of the stage in the Boston Music room and spread the music over two stages.

Dream Wife opened the evening and went down well with audience. They’ll definitely have won over a new crowd.

Likewise Shame didn’t do themselves any harm, with an excellent set.

Moving upstairs, the Magic Gang were up next. They’re a decent fun band.

I find Spring King a bit hit and miss. They’re never bad. But sometimes I find them a bit bland. Usually it relates to the size of stage. I think it’s because their drummer is the singer. It’s fine in a small location. But in a big location there’s no ‘presence’. Tonight was a better gig. But I wish they had a traditional singer who can hold my attention

Closing the evening were one of my personal favourites, the Wytches. As expected they were on form and the young audience really went for it adding to a great atmosphere. The Wytches new material wasn’t quiet up to the material off their first album, sounding more ‘metal’ than the ‘Nirvana’. But they sound great on a big stage

Savages at the Dome

Paul Hudson — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 21:19:49 +0000

It’s been a while since the Savages played their own headline UK gigs. Unfortunately, they have been two timing us with the US and writing their new album. So tonight’s gig at the Dome, a relatively small venue for their current status, was a hot ticket. Arriving early, I found that there was no support. Disappointing as it meant standing around for two hours. But the wait was worth it. Playing lots of songs from their new album. It was amazing how good these new songs sounded. This band are one of the most talented and tightest bands around. The rhythm section is simply awesome and tonight they were all on top form with Jen even walking on a sea of hands.

Joanna Gruesome and Perfect Pussy

Paul Hudson — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 00:14:31 +0000

This was a bit of a double headliner for me. I’ve seen Joanna Gruesome before. They’re pretty decent live. I’d also heard that Perfect Pussy were great live. So it seemed like a good ticket. Unfortunately, the gig was back at the Dome where last week I was disappointed with the sound for the Hookworms.

Kicking the evening off was a band called USA Nails. They played a decent enough set.

As with last week’s gig, the sound wasn’t great. Not sure what it is about this place. I think the problem might be with standing at the front. The Dome’s room is quite wide and there’s no photographer’s pit. So if you’re at the front, you’re actually behind the two sets of speakers at each side of the stage. So the only getting the bass and the sound from the band’s amps.

So the evening was more an enjoyment of performance. Both JG and PP put on good live shows. So all wasn’t lost. It was great to see two confident bands and they even shared vocalists, with each singer singing one song during the other band’s set. Really nice to see. JG performance was up to the standard I’d expect from them. But I was also impressed by Perfect Pussy’s performance. The lead singer doesn’t look like somebody full of punk energy and aggression. In fact when she was standing at the side of the stage waiting to go on during JG’s set, she looked the kind of quiet girl you’d take home to meet your parents. But on stage she burst into life screaming each song giving an energetic punk performance. No short changing the audience here.

Joanna Gruesome

Perfect Pussy’s lead singer with Joanne Gruesome

Perfect Pussy

Hookworms

Paul Hudson — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 09:08:00 +0000

I thought the Hookworms Pearl Mystic album was one of the best albums of 2013 but I’d missed every opportunity to see them live. With a new album out soon, they’ve hit the road again so I made sure I didn’t miss this one,

Unfortunately, the venue chosen was the Dome at Tufnell Park. I’m not a fan of it. It’s more like a gig in a school hall with a high stage more suited for a school play. The sound’s also pretty poor if you’re at the front.

Luckily, vocal clarity weren’t important for either of tonight’s bands. The Hookworms vocals are effect heavy as they’re passed through fuzz and echo boxes. So the poor sound didn’t detract too much,

I’ve heard the Hookworms described as a ‘geek band’ and I can see why, They don’t look like a band, more like a bunch of computer programmers and in some ways their tech heavy psychedelic sound reflects this. But what a sound it is and they put in a really good set. It’s just a pity it was in a venue I don’t like,

Veronica Falls

Paul Hudson — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 22:54:22 +0000

I’ve tried several times to see Veronica Falls, in fact I’ve had tickets to their gigs but not been able to make them. I did catch them last year at a free show at the 100 Club but it wasn’t their show and I didn’t think the sound was very good on the evening. So this was my first opportunity to see them at their own headline show.

The evening started slowly. The first band Virginia Wing had equipment issues and so started late. They then appeared to have monitor issues and didn’t managed to hook me in.

The next band up was a stripped back pop-punk three girls and a drummer band, with lots of short high energy songs. It worked. Sometimes a band’s energy is enough to make it work, and this was one of those times.

Closing the night was Veronica Falls. My first opportunity to see them play their own headline show. I’d expected them to start by playing songs from their most recent album. But instead they got the show off to a strong start by concentrating on strong songs from their first album and this helped a lot. Once they moved into the more unfamiliar territory of their second album, an album which I had thought wasn’t as strong as their first, every song seemed to fit perfectly in the set and seemed much stronger than I remembered from the album. With much better sound that the 100 Club show, with familiarity of their new materials and a good structured set, I found it to be a really enjoyable show. So I’m really happy that I persevered to see them again. It was definitely worth the wait