Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Rock City, Nottingham

 Supported By Night Beats

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Babyshambles, Rock City, Nottingham

Supported by Sweet Return, Another Day & Max Bianco

 

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Heaven 17, Octagon Centre, Sheffield

 

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Feeder, Academy, Leeds

 

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Belly, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

 

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Pixies, Academy, Birmingham

Supported by Big Special

So this is my sixth Pixies gig. I saw them five times first time around up until 1991 but then they split up in 1993. I've seen them only once since they reformed in 2003, that was at Leeds Festival in 2005. 30 years ago... Where does the time go? but to be fair they never come to Nottingham any more like they did in their heyday, so here I am at the Academy in Birmingham. Not one of my favourite places but it's going to be great to get reacquainted with Black Francis and co.

First though are local lads Big Special who say they met just around the corner at Matthew Boulton College. They seemed to consist of just a drummer and a man with his thumbs up. Turns out he’s the singer but doesn't have an instrument. Yet there is a secret guitar playing somewhere and some keyboards as well... Yes, we have another karaoke merchant.  

That aside... they are nice lads who are clearly delighted to be supporting the band they described as the best in the world and they do make quite a good 'manufactured' sound. I particularly liked the secret saxophone on what they described as their new song. 

Pixies take the stage without a word and ease into the instrumental ‘Cecilia Ann’ perhaps a sign that they are simply going to let the music speak for itself because there is no banter, no theatrics and no attempt to involve the crowd in a singalong just a tightly wound set of one relentless classic song after another. 

Song two is one of those classics ‘Monkey Gone to Heaven’ but obviously without Kim Deal. Emma Richardson, of Band of Skulls fame, takes on the vocal and the bass guitar that is so fundamental to their sound. She nails both. 

'Wave Of Mutilation' and 'Planet Of Sound' hurtle along in the Monkey's wake. Then we are treated to material from albums I am less familiar with along with tracks from their new and tenth album, ‘The Night the Zombies Came’. This pattern of old and new continues seamlessly throughout a generous 28 song set.

Of course, the ravages of time meant I wasn’t expecting Black Francis to yelp like a lunatic as much as he used to but even at 60 he still howls his way through the magnificent 'Caribou' and commands the stage throughout. Although he does have to keep reaching for his reading glasses to read the set list. Which is great really. So he's not a God after all, he's just like the rest of us. 

Then there's Joey Santiago, whose guitar used to shred my eardrums for days after one of their gigs. Then again... I might struggle with my hearing at that work meeting tomorrow. The ears are also not helped by the volume of David Lovering’s precision drumming.

Other highlights... a brutal 'Gouge Away’, the wonderful ‘Hey’, the brilliant 'Here Comes Your Man', an amazing ‘Where Is My Mind?’ and then there’s ‘Debaser’, still snarling and shredding ears after all these years.

The finale comes via a particularly unhinged ‘Tame’ before Richardson’s take on the hypnotic 'Into the White' ends the night. There is no encore and instead the band then come together centre stage to show their appreciation to us as we show our appreciation to them. 

I was a little sceptical of how good they would be after all these years but I needn't have worried because while it was different they were still once again immensely special. 

Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Rock City, Nottingham

Supported by Dan Ottewell &  Amigo the Devil

First up tonight is 18-year-old Dan Ottewell from Ashbourne and his electric guitar. To say he is delighted to be here and playing to a sold-out Rock City is the understatement of the year. He bounced onto the stage like an overexcited puppy where he tells us of his nights’ crowd surfing here and when he broke his nose in the mosh pit. Clearly this is his first time the other side of the crowd barrier. After performing his entire, excellent, set as high as a kite he gets his girlfriend up on stage to take a photo of him in front of the crowd. Then he departs for a well deserved lie down.  

Next up after Dan is the not much calmer Danny Kiranos, otherwise known as Amigo the Devil, who is based in San Francisco. His band start with a promise of lies, some weird shit and a cry of ‘happy birthday’. He describes their music as Dark Country and he has a great collection of love songs. One is called 'I hope your Husband dies', an ode to said Husband's wife. Then there's another belter entitled 'Crying at the Orgy' and then there's 'Hungover in Jonestown' where he gets everyone singing along to the chorus... this life is a joke and death is the punchline. 

I'm already getting into Dark Country and Frank Turner has yet again found not one but two great support bands. 

And so, onto the man himself, with the Sleeping Souls of course, and his new album Undefeated. He tells us that this is his 31st show in Nottingham and his 3016th in total. 

There's not much to say about his set as it's as brilliant as ever. He opens with two from the new album 'No Thank You for the Music' and the 'Girl From the Record Shop' and plays another five from that record including the excellent 'Letters'. 

There is of course plenty of old favourites too with the crowd singing back the words to him of every one of them, old or new. And yes, he ends up in the crowd at the end.