For a few weeks it looked like the British Sea Power gig at the Cutty Sark was going to be 104. This would have been an appropriately magnificent unusual gig for this magic number. Unfortunately, due to some laziness on my part, I missed two gigs in November and so it at 102. Instead, gig/concert 104 turned out to be Mazes at Birthdays.

Birthdays was a new venue for me. Upstairs it’s the usual Shoreditch, Dalston hipster type place. I don’t dislike hipsters per say. I’m not far from being an old one. I’ve been working with the web for nearly 20 years. But I’ve never been fashionable or cool in anyway whatsoever and to be frank, I’ve never been bothered by this fact. I’ve always worn ‘scruffy clothes’ and occasionally I’ll go a week or two without shaving. But I’ve never set out to adopt the look because it’s the ‘hipster uniform’ – and I’ve definitely never worn trowser that are either too short or too long and rolled-up. So yes, I’m a scruffy web developer. But that’s my natural way, it’s not a uniform I’ve adopted because I work in Shoreditch. Birthdays is one of the venues that’s filled with these beardy hipster types. Crap selection of beers on tap, expensive ‘homemade burgers’ and a selection of ‘craft beers’ – but all from bottles. It’s also designed to look like a dive. You know the type of places, Shoreditch is full of them. Downstairs things are on safer ground with a pretty decent little basement gig space.

The first band tonight was the Cheatahs. This is the third time I’ve seen them and the second time in as many weeks as they supported Metz in November. They have a grunge sound right out of the 90s. Reminding me of bands like Dinosaur Jr that were around when I was at Uni. But because of this I just feel I’ve heard better. I’m afraid I don’t hear anything original in their work. They’re not unpleasant to listen to. Quiet the opposite. They just don’t excite me.

Next up was Fair Ohs. I’d never heard of them before and I’m not going to go out of my way to listen to them again. Although at times they made some interesting music, the lead singer came across as arrogant. I’m sure it’s all part of the show. I just didn’t find the lead singer’s ‘character’ somebody I wanted to watch.

Finally on to Mazes, a band I’d been looking forward to seeing. I’d really enjoyed their ‘Ores & Minerals’ album from earlier in 2013. I thought it had four of five really good tracks. I’d meant to see them support Parquet Courts in November but missed the gig. So it was good to finally see them.

Unusually, they started with one of their strongest, probably strongest track, the excellent Bodies. I think this was a blinding choice to start with. They then mixed new and old material in an enjoyable set finished with Skulking.

I think I saw Veronica Falls at SXSW. SXSW provide an amazingly useful mini guide of all the bands and venues. To keep track of the bands I saw and liked, like a trainspotter, I would mark the guide so that I could catch up with them after the festival. Veronica Falls were marked as one to follow-up on. But the odd thing is that I can’t actually remember seeing them. I think I might have caught the end of their set before watching somebody else, or it might have been the effects of alcohol (I suspect a combination of the two). But I bought their album when I got back and really like it. Since then I’ve been trying to catch them, but they always seem to clash with another gig.

Frankie, on the other hand, I’ve not seen before but liked their simple back to basics album that’s in the mould of a popier Futureheads. But they don’t seem to have been touring as a support band for much of last year.

So tonight’s free gig should have been a no brainer and the evening started quite strongly with the Cheatahs, a band that seemed heavily influenced by grunge, especially Dinosaur Jr. So nothing particularly bad, but nothing new.

Then it was time from Frankie. Unfortunately, all I can say is that I was extremely disappointed. Sometimes the problem with live performances is that the deficiencies in vocalists can become all too clear. Tonight was one of those cases. Probably the mixing was out, but the lead singer just shouted his way through the entire set. There was no tone or colour that they managed to infuse the album with. It was simply shouting. Maybe I was standing in the wrong place. But I was really disappointed. I’m listening to the album as I write this and still like it. But I don’t think I’ll try and catch them again.

So on to the main event, Veronica Falls. Again, not all’s rosy. Unfortunately, the vocals were far too low in the mix. But thankfully, unlike Frankie, this didn’t distract too much. What was interesting, without strong vocals there appeared to be a much bigger Pixies influence in their music than I’d heard on album. Their sound definitely has that stripped back garage indie pop sound of the 80s. Not a bad thing in my book. So I enjoyed the performance and will definitely try and catch them again.