Artists I liked

Wolf Alice, Seamus Fogarty x2, The Radiophonic Workshop, Ed Dowie, Gaygirl, Peach Club, Hotel Lux x2, Yak, Shame, Spindle Ensemble, Michael Price, British Sea Power, Spook School, Diet Cig, Dream Wife

Artists that were okay

Keeva , Maple & Rye, Bedouine, The Wedding Present, Siv Jakobsen, Paul Carter, Martin White, Hexmaze, Skinny Girl Diet, Blood-Dope Honey, J.W.Paris, Baby In Vain, ILL, Will Stratton, The Weather Station, Sorry, Waterfall Boys, Bellow Fellows, Hannah Nicholson

Artists I won’t be going out of my way to see again

Dipper Malkin, Danilogue, Rhythm Method, Namlo

Best Gig

Possibly the most fun gig of the year was the Diet Cig and Spook School gig at the Moth Club

Best new band

Hotel Lux

Albums of the Month

• Relatives in Descent – Protomartyr
• Strange Peace – METZ
• Carry Fire – Robert Plant

Best photo

Artists I liked

The Duke Spirit, Warm Digits, Nadine Shah, Flirting, Ghostpoet

Artists that were okay

Faces of Eve, Dream State, Drones, When Young, Baby In Vain, Son Joan, Wayne, Honey Joy

Artists I won’t be going out of my way to see again

HeadAche, Waterbaby

Best Gig

Nadine Shah edges this over Ghostpoet. But both were excellent

Best new band

Warm Digits

Albums of the Month

• Peach – Deerful
• Thankful Villages 1&2 – Darren Hayman
• The Hayman Kupa Band – The Hayman Kupa Band
• Dark Days and Capapés – Ghostpoet
• Holiday Destinations – Nadine Shah

Best photo

First up was Black Honey. Odd. As they’re such a good live band, I thought they’d have been the main support for the Wytches. Although there was a reasonable crowd for them, it didn’t reach the critical mass for it to get anyone moshing. Which is a pity, because Black Honey still put in their usual high-energy performances and it’s the first time I’ve seen them play to a relatively flat crowd.

I’d heard good things abut Baby In Vain and what I heard I liked. They’re much heavier than I was expecting. But that’s not a bad thing. I thought they had a Paranoid era-Black Sabbath sound. Unfortunately, my friend wasn’t overly impressed and for some reason the sound at the Horn, was much louder than I can ever remember it being. So we opted out of the performance after a few songs. But I’d like to catch them again.

Closing the evening were my personal favourites, the Wytches. Airing some new songs. The young crowd didn’t seem to mind and were soon moshing away. The new material was more much closer to normal grunge and seemed to be missing their trademark psychobilly influences but they still sounded great. In fact I think it beefed up their set.