Artists I liked

Otoboke Beaver, Gurr, Fable, Gabrielle Aplin, Dead Pretties, Aldous Harding x3, Pins, Dronningen, Rose Elinor Dougall, The Avulsions, Tired Lion, Byrde, Pumarosa x2, Life, Dream Wife, The Kills, Public Service Broadcasting, Gold Class

Artists that were okay

J.W.Paris, Yon Aka, Molly, Emme Woods, Fazerdaze, Bite The Buffalo, ILL, Flamingods, Slotface, Kane Strang, Hey Charlie, Olympia, Puma Blue, Our Girl, Abattoir Blues, Hazel English, Emily Barker, Education, Mata, Like A Motorcycle, Locks

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

Skott, Dream Nails, Cherry Glazer

Best Gig

May is Great Escape month. With my poor blogging, I didn’t keep track of the bands I was seeing as well as I should have, so the number of bands I saw this month was much larger than recorded. Few new bands stood out. But there were some excellent highlights this month with a number of my favourites such as The Kills, PSB, Pumarosa and Aldous Harding. I think The Kills was probably my highlight of the month.

Best new band

Gurr

Albums of the Month

• Parasite (EP) – The Coathangers
• The Witch – Pumarosa
• Party – Aldous Harding
• Popular Music – Life

Best photo

Tonight was the first evening and the place was completely packed. This is the third time I’ve seen Our Girl. They’re growing on me but I’m still not completely convinced by them. They’ve got one song that is great that seems to flow better than the rest of their set. It usually comes towards the end of the set. But they have potential.

I’m not going to comment on the next band, C Duncan, it would be simply unfair. There are times when bands are just in the wrong venue. These guys seem to play quite quiet indie music, one that needs an attentive audience and that’s not the rammed Lock Tavern audience on a Thursday night before a four day Bank Holiday weekend. Unfortunately this meant I really struggled to listen to these guys. So it’s best not to draw any conclusions.

My last band of the evening were Jagaara, a band who’d impressed me in January. Tonight there was only the three sisters. I have to admit, their sound works better with drums. It took longer for me to get into their set than last time. But once they got going, they were excellent. This band has the potential to hit the mainstream. Their parents(?) were watching from the side of the stage. Clearly proud of their daughters. And so they should be.

Opening the evening were Our Girl. I thought it took time for them to get going but once they hit their stride I enjoyed their performance.

Bloody Knees were next. I’ve seen them before and they hadn’t made a memorable impression. But I enjoyed tonight’s performances. They have a grunge sound and although the music wasn’t anything to write home about, their set was energetic and they seemed to be having fun.

Honeyblood followed. It was an up to their usual standard, great performance. The singer has such a lovely voice, I could listen to her all day. But it’s the new drummer that adds so much to the band. She really goes for it. Important when you’re a two piece. They just look and feel a much more complete unit.