First up was Lower Slaughter. A weird little band. The lead singer sang in a ‘childish voice’ and then screamed over music. At times he was like a possessed hyperactive child who’d eaten too much sugar. Entertaining to watch, but I didn’t like their music. Still as long as they keep him away from scissors, I’m sure we’ll all be safe.

The only other band I caught tonight, was Royal Limp. I liked the singers vocals and the music was interesting enough to hold my attention.

Friday however, had two bands I’d seen before and enjoyed. Wands and Radar Men From The Moon. With Wands being first on, and Radar second. It seemed likely that I’d catch both bands. So I headed in for what was an enjoyable evening, and another evening where it did run late and I failed to see the headline ac!.

Wands

Radar Men From The Moon

Radar Men From The Moon

First up were Madonnatron. Frankly, one of the worst bands I’ve heard this year. Every member of the band appeared to be playing different songs. I hate writing this, but they were simply awful. I kept waiting for the punchline of the joke. Unfortunately, it never came.

Pit Ponies were up next. I quiet enjoyed their performance. The lead singer puts in a lot of energy.

The last band before leaving were Meatraffle

Unfortunately, as with previous nights. Everything was running late. It was 2240 after Meatraffle finished. Next up were Taman Shud, the band I wanted to see. But even with a quick turn, it was clear I wasn’t going to see much of their set before my own 11pm curfew. So I cut my losses. It turns out that they didn’t go on until after 11pm. So I did the right thing.

Bill Botting from Allo Darlin’ followed with a very Allo’ Darlin’ sounding set. This was in part due to the fact that his sister was providing the female vocals, often singing in a similar way to how Allo’ Darlin’ sound. It was all fine.

The next act, Pete Astor, was okay. But I have to admit, writing this a few days later, I can’t really remember too much about him. I enjoyed it at the time. But sadly, his music didn’t make enough of an impact on me.

I’d seen Evans the Death a few weeks ago. I wasn’t too struck by them. I think the problem is the singer. I’m not convinced by her. I thought she put a better performance in this time. The vocals weren’t hampered by her having run up the stairs because she was late for the set. So at times were actually pretty good. But their sound requires ‘more energy’ and at times she’s just too rooted to the spot.

Finally it was Simon Love and A Little Orchestra. This was a lovely little set. As a contrast to Evans, Simon had a great relaxed stage presence. Constantly quipping with his orchestra and to the audience. His material was sweary and really fun.

Unfortunately, the Shacklewell was again running late and I could see from my phone app that there were some train cancellations. So I decided not to take a chance that somehow the Shacklewell would make up the hour or so it was running late, and that the trains would run okay throughout the evening and decided to cut my losses. I was having to get up early the next day anyway to catch a train to Edinburgh. So sometimes it’s best to take the easy option.

I like the Shacklewell Arms. But it’s timings are woeful. Unfortunately, I try to keep to an 11pm cut-off. To give me enough time to get back to Kings Cross or Finsbury Park and to account for any late night shenanigans with the trains or tube. Tonight was of those evenings. Despite there only being three bands, the last band, Froth, hadn’t even started to set up at 1030. So I dipped out early rather than wait simply to hear a song. Apparently they didn’t go on until 11. Not great for us out of towner’s.

The reason of the late running was a last minute lineup change, with the Abjects stepping in at short notice.  I’d seen them once before and I really like their EP. So it was a pleasant surprise.

To say they turned up at the last minute and had no soundcheck, they put in a fine performance, better than the last time. I think this was partly due to the singer’s voice being more forward in the mix than last time.

Next up were Mozes and the First Born, a band hailing from the Netherlands. I enjoyed their performance. Not sure why. The music didn’t really grab me. It seemed rather generic. But for some reason I really enjoyed their set.