Belly, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

Tonight Belly are at a sold-out Rescue Rooms as part of the 30th anniversary celebrations of their second album ‘King’. 

There is no support act and as we wait for the band to play the first of two sets we listen to an oddly Kim Deal heavy selection of warm up music. 

Then they come on stage to play the first of two sets which sees them perform ‘King’ in full in its original order including the likes of the very rarely played ‘L'il Ennio’. 

‘King’ was released in 1995 and was meant to be the album that built on the success of their first in 1993. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen for them and Tanya Donelly broke up the band a year later. 

It wasn’t until they got back together ten years later that their third album ‘Dove’ was recorded in 2018. Which was the last time they were in Nottingham and as bass player Gail Greenwood says there seems to be plenty of repeat offenders here tonight. 

The songs still sound great today and while I’ve always thought I preferred their first album, now thirty years on I’m not so sure. The likes of ‘Puberty’, ‘Superconnected’, ‘Now They'll Sleep’ and ‘Seal My Fate’ all sound amazing this evening. 

After just a 15-minute break they come back on to play a second set throughout which Donelly repeatedly apologises for messing up and starting songs in the wrong key. Not that we’ve noticed. 

 

The set opens with the b-side ‘Thief’ but thereafter leans heavily on their debut album ‘Star’ as they rattle through ‘Dusted’, ‘Gepetto’, ‘Low Red Moon’, ‘Slow Dog’ and ‘Feed the Tree’ with ‘Human Child’ from their third album ‘Dove’ in the middle. Then they close the set with another off ‘Dove’ in ‘Shiny One’ 

They return for a one song encore, the slow building ‘Full Moon Empty Heart’ and then that’s it for another bunch of years. 

The Slow Readers Club, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

Supported By Glass Caves

The Slow Readers Club start their latest UK tour at the Rescue Rooms, which is really a bit too small for them but Rock City is still perhaps a little too large. They're in that in between phase. This tour is to promote their latest album 'Out of A Dream'. 

First though are Pontefract's Glass Caves who have a new record of their own 'Back To Earth' to promote and promote they do. Frontman Matt Hallas asking the crowd to buy some merch so that they can upgrade their Travelodge to accommodate the four of them as they're all sharing one room. The band who started out busking on the streets of York treat us to their straightforward approach to modern rock alongside some vintage hairstyles. A long-haired throwback to the eighties but they are thoroughly nice chaps and so polite as they attempt to flog their merch for an upgrade. 

So, the Readers, and talking of vintage they have pulled a pretty vintage crowd which makes me feel so young. Quite why it’s an older crowd I’m not sure as the band aren’t that vintage.  

Across a 16-song main set they don't over push the new album playing just four from it including new single 'Animals' which is pretty decent and previous release 'Technofear' which everyone seems to know. 

There are of course plenty of oldies too including a rare outing for 'Sirens' from their first album in 2011. Although with seven albums to dip into now, and they do choose from them pretty evenly, there's a lot of classics not played. 

There's an excellent run at the end of the set with 'Afterlife', 'You Opened Up My Heart' and 'Forever in Your Debt' before new track 'Boy So Blue' and finally regular set closer 'On The TV'. 

They come back for an encore that opens with 'I Saw a Ghost', then 'Knowledge Freedom Power' before 'Lunatic' naturally finishes things off. It's a lively warming show for a cold November night.

The View, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

 Supported By The Rosadocs

Support tonight comes from The Rosadocs, a five piece from Sheffield who have shades of early Arctic Monkeys about them and certainly don't lack for confidence. This specifically includes lead vocalist Keelan Graney singing their fifth track from amongst the crowd and continually bragging about selling out Sheffield City Hall tomorrow night. Really?

On closer inspection (e.g. Google) this amounts to the 850 capacity Ballroom not the entire City Hall. Not that that isn't impressive in itself as that's twice the capacity of tonight's gig at the Rescue Rooms. Are they worth their own hype? Maybe. They're very good.

If they are a band on the up, The View are a band whose trajectory has been all over the place. They appeared in some style with 2007’s ‘Hats Off to the Buskers’ but their career has been somewhat mixed since and not without some controversy. They seem to have broken up and reformed many times or at least that is the perception.

In fact the opening night of their current comeback tour back in May ended in a fight on stage in Manchester between lead singer Kyle Falconer and the bass player Kieren Webster. Which didn’t initially bode well for them making it as far as this gig in Nottingham. Surprisingly though, here they are. They even dropped a new album ‘Exorcism of Youth‘ in August.

An oldie ‘Glass Smash‘ starts things off in a lively manner with the more restrained ‘Grace‘ following and then they are into ‘Wasted Little DJ’s‘, their debut single. At this point it is clear that the band seem not only to be getting along with each other but positively enjoying themselves.

 

Falconer’s voice is still in great shape but then the group, who do seem to have been around forever, are still in their mid-thirties.

There are quite a few tracks from the new album too which seem to go down well. ‘Neon Lights’ has a shout along chorus which helps and just in case that isn’t going to be enough for ‘Allergic To Mornings’, Falconer makes sure we know the words to the chorus before we start. 

Following another new track ‘The Wonder of It All’, his sparring partner Webster takes the mic for the almost impossible to sing along to ‘Skag Trendy’.

You do feel throughout that the gig is always teetering on the edge of chaos without ever quite getting there but while that’s their modus operandi if anything tonight’s performance could almost be described as slick particularly when Falconer sits down on the drum kit for an acoustic version of ‘Face For The Radio‘. 

However after just fifteen quickfire songs in a brief hour, the band seem to think fuck it and cut three songs off the printed set list. After rattling through the energetic pair of ‘Superstar Tradesman’ and ‘Shock Horror’ they leave the stage and don’t return for an encore but, hey, that’s The View.  

Little Man Tate, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

Kicking off the evening are the Shambolics from Glasgow sporting three guitars, a bass player and a drummer. A proper old school set up even if the third guitarist does dabble on the keyboards from time to time. Unfortunately this energetic group of lads were only entertaining 29 people. I know the crowd was that small because I actually counted them. It does get gradually busier and I hope the band is pulling them in as they are decent.

 

It is much busier for tonight's main band, Little Man Tate, who come on to the Pearl and Dean music, you know 'bah bah bah', which is in fact called 'Asteroid', and then Carter USM's 'Sheriff Fatman'.

I have never actually seen Little Man Tate live before. I followed them loosely in their early days but after releasing two albums in two years they caught me by surprise when they broke up the following year. That was in 2009. I vowed to right that wrong when after an eleven year break they announced their re-formation in early 2020 but then of course Covid intervened.

Now here they are in Nottingham on a UK Tour and that wrong has finally be righted.

They get off to a flying start with three tracks from their debut album 'About What You Know' namely 'Man I Hate Your Band', 'European Lover' and 'What? What You Got' before they do that we’re going to play songs from our new album thing. Which would have been fine had that first album in over fifteen years 'Welcome To The Rest Of Your Life' been out but it isn’t until next month.  

 

So to play no less than six songs that are unfamiliar to the crowd is pushing your luck a bit but if anyone’s going to pull it off its frontman Jon Windle who isn't a man who lacks for confidence as he tells us that the first of these newbies called ‘Cheap Stolen Kisses’ is about his now ex-wife having an affair with her boss.

It’s all very entertaining stuff and of course they do intersperse the new material with more familiar crowd pleasers. This though, as they play non-album singles 'The Agent' from their early days and 'Boy in the Anorak' that came between albums as a download, brings us to another problem.

They have always been a band with a liking for one off singles, B-sides, bonus tracks and downloads before they were as fashionable as they are now. Which was one of the things that drew me to them. The problem is after such a long time away, for a fair weather fan like me, getting hold of such tracks is now rather difficult as I found prior to this gig. It has to be said that most of the crowd, who know everything, don’t have this problem and clearly grabbed all this stuff at the time. 

'This Must Be Love' from their debut is a show stopper towards the end but the actual set closers are two newbies '23' and 'Beautiful, Deadly & Mine'.

Initially Windle returns alone for the encore to play a couple of songs on my own because, in his own words, he's ‘an egotistical fucking wanker’.

Of course 'Half Empty Glass' was a B-side albeit a brilliant one and 'You and Me Might Be Alright You Know' was available only on the iTunes version of their debut album. I think us fair weather fans need a rarities album.

A fan, clearly not a fair weather one, is invited up on stage to do ‘You and Me’ with Windle and does it some style. Then the whole band return for 'Sexy in Latin' and 'House Party at Boothys' to finish things off.

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The Joy Formidable, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

There is a very packed stage equipment wise for support act The People Versus and there are effects pedals everywhere. So many trip hazards. Do health and safety know? I hope the band are small in number but oh no. There are six of them and at the end of their set they do freely acknowledge that not many bands will take a six piece support.  

In Alice Edwards they have a strong singer but who seems a bit indifferent to the crowd or perhaps this is just self-deprecating humour. This does take the edge off what is bouncy and fun performance but they seem more genuine by the end.

From a packed stage to a very stripped back setup for the threesome that are The Joy Formidable on the last date of their UK tour. There is even more space on stage for lead vocalist\guitarist Rhiannon Bryan and bassist Rhydian Dafydd with their unconventional set up that sees drummer Matt Thomas positioned sideways on at the front corner of the stage rather than tucked away at the back. This was a nice dynamic but I think they've always done this. For me there’s no substitute for seeing a band up close and in full flow so this is ideal as you rarely get to see the drummer so close up.

I confess that it's been a while since I last saw them. Having followed them closely right from when they started in 2007, I haven't actually seen them live since 2010. I have missed out because they've always been, well, formidable live and, as I soon discover, they still are.

The Rescue Rooms isn't full but it's busy and it's quite an old crowd as well. Perhaps they've all been in from the start. Unfortunately things have never really taken off for the band. Despite regularly securing decent support slots and doing quite well in the States they've never been able to move on from relatively small venues in this country. Tonight that is to benefit of everyone who's here. 

After starting with 'Caught on a Breeze', 'Sevier' and 'Ostrich' they finally pause for breath and the first of many long rambling chats ensues. These are occasionally with the audience but mostly among themselves. One of these before playing 'Into The Blue' turns to how much Covid affected a touring band such them and then somehow in to a discussion about sheds. 

We get some of the 'hits' such as 'Whirring' and 'Cradle' then they play a Welsh language song called 'Y Garreg Ateb' (the Answering Stone), which was a total belter, and then an acoustic version of 'I Don’t Want To See You Like This' before they close with their new single 'Share My Heat'.

They return to play 'Little Blimp' and then the slow-burning 'Left Too Soon', which seems apt as a show closer.

They are still formidable and still deserve to be much better known than they are. 

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Sea Power, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

Supported By Loose Articles

Support tonight is from Manchester’s rather wonderful and rather wild Loose Articles who may, or may not, have expected to be playing to a room full of Dads awaiting a band who sing about ice shelves amongst a stage strewn with plant life. Although by some sheer coincidence one of the four girls does go by the name of Tree.

They have fortunately brought a few fans with them to lower the average age for a set that actually enchants everyone. Their punky sound sort of blends (if I may show my age) Sleeper with an Eddie Argos\Art Brut delivery (I’m sure they will hate that description) on the day Eddie really didn’t like buses (one of their songs).

Aside from a great sound, they have a great slogan too 'feminine and threatening, working and class' while among several songs with a football angle they have one that is apparently about Gary Lineker shagging a packet of crisps. For a finale their lead singer Natalie (or was it Tree) spends the last track dancing amongst the audience. Beat that Sea Power.

Of course back in the day the eccentrics that are now called Sea Power would have done exactly that but now I think the guys have middle-aged knees and Noble rarely seems to swing from the light fittings these days. Yet musically they are still majestic as illustrated by their outstanding latest album 'Everything Was Ever' which understandably dominates proceedings tonight.

The new songs which are great on record sound even better in the live arena with the likes of 'Folly' and 'Two Fingers' standouts again. It’s also great to have a track where you can validly flick a V sign to everyone in attendance and call it a dance.

The new songs nestle nicely with the oldies which of course the band rotate as always and after seven albums they have a lot to rotate now. As ever something excellent is pulled from that back catalogue such as the opening 'Who's in Control', the wonderful 'A Trip Out', 'The Lonely' and to a lesser extent the expansive 'Cleaning Out The Rooms'.

There’s always something you are thrilled to hear again along with disappointment at what they’ve left out but then there’s always next time. Which just means you can never skip a tour.

However the finale of the sets does now seem to have become a bit of a religion with ‘Lights Out’, ‘Remember Me’ and ‘Carrion’ closing the set before an encore of the anthem ‘Waving Flags’ and their sublime instrumental ‘The Great Skua’.

It’s another amazing night but maybe shake that ending up if you can’t swing from the rafters any more?

House Of Love, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

With Support From Pete Astor

Support tonight is from Pete Astor formerly of The Loft and The Weather Prophets back in the 1980s. He’s very popular with the crowd and an impressive performer that somehow I’ve managed not to see over all these years. Most of the material tonight s from his later solo career and mostly from his new album ‘Time on Earth’ although he does include ‘Why Does The Rain’ from his Loft days. 

 

While having not seen Pete Astor before, I did see the House of Love four times in a sixteen month period back in the day when they were one of my favourite bands. This was 1988-1990. Isn't it amazing how you let things slide... Now Guy Chadwick is stood back in front of me 32 years on.

Of course things changed for the band when lead guitarist Terr Bickers left in late 1989, a month before I saw them for the last time at Derby Darwin Suite in January 1990. Then the band broke up completely in 1993.

I've been missing in action a bit since. In 2003 the reconciled Chadwick and Bickers reformed the band and even released new material. This reunion held until 2020 but now Chadwick is back on his own with a new line up which includes great guitarist of around ‘our age’ and a much younger bass player who seems almost styled in the band’s original image. They could be father and son and, as it turns out, they are. Keith and Harry Osborne.

Kicking off with the three opening tracks from House of Love’s debut album ‘Road’, ‘Christine’ and ‘Hope’ but not in the right order. These obviously go down well with the crowd before we are then delving heavily into the band’s impressive new album ‘A State Of Grace’ from which no less than seven tracks are pulled tonight. One of which ‘Hey Babe’ Chadwick dedicates to the Queen on the day of her funeral.

He is chattier than I recall him being in the past and among other things we find out that he lived in Chilwell for 18 months which he says ‘wasn’t great’.

There are plenty of other oldies of course including ‘Shine On’ their first single from 1987, the sheer indie brilliance of ‘Destroy The Heart’ and a hauntingly brilliant ‘Love In A Car’ which closes the set. While another belter from the old days ‘I Don’t Know Why I Love You’ is part of the encore. Possibly the highlight though is a thunderous ‘Burn Down The World’. 

An excellent gig and I best not leave it another 32 years.