Bands I liked

Adrian Crowley, Mary and the Pigeons, Radie Peat, Idles, Sofasonic. Saint Leonard’s Horses, Ed Dowie, Guildhall Saxophone Ensemble, Gill Sandell, Alev Lenz, Angèle David-Guillou, Enderby’s Room, She Drew a Gun, Hurray For The Riff Raff, Mammoth Penguins, Milky Wimpshake, September Girls, The Proper Ornaments, Tigercats, Chorusgirl, Spook School, Joanna Gruesome, Martha, Freak, Black Honey, British Sea Power

Bands that were okay

Brigid Mae Power, Dinges, Krammers, John Hassall, Kite Base, Circa Waves, Jess Bryant, Pete Astor, Piney Gir, Samantha Whites, Michael J Sheehy, Anna Pancaldi, Bahboon, No Cars, The Tomboys, Natalie McCool, Healyum, Marvin Powell, Bearsuit, Evans the Death, USA Nails, Dairy Classics

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

Martin Dubna, Sonic Kimono, Hope

Best Gig

March was a sad month as it saw the closure of Fortuna Pop!. The gigs celebrating Fortuna Pop! were excellent. But the gig of the month has to be a new band, Idles. They’re easily the most exciting band I’ve seen for a few years.

Best new band

Idles

Albums of the Month

• Volcano – Temples
• Brutalism – Idles
• A Pink Sunset for No One – Noveller
• Flying Microtonal Banana – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
• Condition – Spectres
• The Navigator – Hurray for the Riff Raff
• Let the Dancers Inherit the Party – British Sea Power

Best photo

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

Joanna Gruesome

Joanna Gruesome

Joanna Gruesome

Joanna Gruesome

Perfect Pussy’s lead singer with Joanne Gruesome

Perfect Pussy

Perfect Pussy

Perfect Pussy

Perfect Pussy

Perfect Pussy

Perfect Pussy

This first gig of the year was Joanna Gruesome with support from September Girls. I’ve seen Joanna Gruesome before and enjoyed the gig experience and Weird Sisters, their debut album was a great listen. So they were on my list of bands to catch again this year. However, I had intended to go and see Shopping over at Hoxton Square. But I caught ‘Sister’ September Girls first single from their new album which swung the deal.

The first band of the evening, Flowers were standard fare. Nothing really stood out. They were proficient but ultimately their set left no mark.

The September Girls take their name from a Bangles song. Like the Bangles, they’re an all an all-female group. In today’s age it shouldn’t really stand out any more than an all-male group. But it is still a fairly rare occurrence. With the release of their debut album that week which seems to have some excellent reviews, the room was pretty busy for their performance.

The five-piece lined up with the drums at the back and all other members at the front of the stage, each taking vocal duties and all sounding great. To my ears, their sound seems to draw from bands such a Veronica Falls. That glorious fuzz laden, gothic sound. The Girls make the sound their own with a greater emphasis on keyboards lightening the mood.

I hadn’t read up on their band before the gig. So I was unaware that they were all Irish. I’m a sucker for a girl with a Southern Irish accent. So I was rather enamoured with them every time they spoke to the crowd. I’d have paid the admission price for them to just talk all evening, the fact that they also played some damn fine music made the evening all the more worthwhile.

Closing the evening were Joanna Gruesome. For some reason they had to alter their line-up as their bass played couldn’t make the tour. So they’d roped in their old drummer to play guitar and their current guitarist was playing bass! It could have been a recipe for a disaster. But despite the fact that the guitars were constantly going out of tune, they clearly were enjoying the experience for what it and not letting technical difficulties and their lack of practice as a band get to them. Combined with a great energetic performance from the lead singer, it made for a great example of ‘DIY-sound’ and a great spectacle. My only problem with the evening was that the set was too short. But I think they played every song that evening’s line-up knew. Maybe next time.