Splendour, Wollaton Park, Nottingham

It’s been a while since I went to a music festival on Wollaton Park and this is the first time I’ve paid. Those freebies were the Heineken festivals of the late eighties and early nineties, halcyon days. Later the historic hall looked down up on the City in the Park and Distortion festivals and now we have Splendour. An odd and slightly off putting name for a music festival if you ask me.



The whole thing is organised by Nottingham City Council and ran by DHP Concerts, the music mafia of Nottingham, owners of Rock City, The Rescue Rooms, The Bodega, Stealth etc etc. They own Nottingham. This one day festival is now in its fourth year, although it did originally run over two days in 2008 and it’s the first edition to sell out.

Today Wollaton Park is awash with sunshine and it is interesting to sit on the grass, listen to the music and study the various ingenious methods people have used to smuggle alcohol in, which with prices at £3.75 a pint and with no half measures available, there’s plenty of incentive to do.



The winners of the ‘Future Sound of Nottingham’ competition, The Money, get to open the main stage. They then walk away with another award, that for best trousers courtesy of both their singer and their guitarist, especially their guitarist.



After which we wander over to the Jägermeister Stage where Royal Gala are belting out what can probably be described as world music. Not my thing, so we head up to the courtyard stage wondering if they really did name themselves after a type of apple.

We are briefly delayed en route by Nottingham City Council trying to sell us a Flexible Fitness membership. It's good to see them giving it some publicity for once, but we’re already members so we get out of that particular hard sell easily. Up in the court yard we miss Jake Bugg. Who seems to have finished very early.

So we head back down the hill and into the real ale tent, which is very impressive with a large selection of beers, sadly at the aforementioned £3.75 a pint and with what appears to be only one barrel of each, which clearly with a reported 20,000 here today isn’t going to last long. I make a mental note to pop back soonish.

With a pint in hand we settle in for Sam Duckworth on the main stage. He is the man behind Get Cape Wear Cape Fly and I really enjoy his acoustic set, although you can’t help thinking he would have been a better fit on the Jägermeister, while perhaps the world music of those apple folk might have gone down better over here.



There are some impressive T shirts out today. Modern ones - Foos, Blink 182 etc. Old ones - Ramones, Husker Du, Bauhaus. There’s one that might be an ‘Echo Park’ era Feeder one, damn late 90’s poverty, probably the reason I never got one. I’d hate to put the blame for that on the girl I’d not long met and who is beside me today. Wouldn't dare.

Out of all of them, the award for best t-shirt goes to a chap wearing one from the 1979 Leigh Rock Festival, although it's brand new, so he probably just bought it off ebay. I'll tell you more about Leigh another day.

Again I try hard to like Nottingham’s Swimming but still find them a bit dull. Swimming unlike Sam D are not very communicative with the crowd, perhaps they’re just a bit knackered after having just finished a UK tour with Killing Joke, I imagine the after show parties were pretty intense. They also try a lot of new material out on us, which isn’t really what festivals are about.



We preselect our evening meal while they’re on, from the same curry stall that fed us at Summer Sundae last year.

The two key stages are alternating half hour slots but there does seem to be some overlap and we appear to be ‘The Last To Know’, ha ha, that Del Amitri are up on main or rather Justin Currie, who is now solo. He’s best described as looking weathered but no matter, we dally for a while and listen to his mix of new solo material and Del Amitri hits.



Then we wonder off to see Romance, who are one of many bands today with an un-googleable name, so it’s a fight to find anything out about them. Romance... The Money... you try it, as for The Virgin Mary, don’t get me started.

There is a band called Romance from Seattle but these folk aren’t from Seattle. Although they still can’t pronounce Nottingham, despite this being their second visit here in three months - they were at Dot to Dot, so they must be from down south, deepest Cockneyshire. Their songs have catchy names like ‘Burn Like Fire’ and the ‘River Runs Red’. A lot of them also sound like covers but don't appear to be. One sounds a dead ringer for the Manic’s ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’ but isn't. Another sounds stunningly like something by the Cult but again isn’t. That’s probably not so surprising when you find out they opened on the Cult’s last tour.

Romance also win an award and that is for most over used cliché in the form of a bass player. Yep, female, black stockings, denim shorts, a dark bob topped off with a pout and the obligatory deep red lipstick. We’ll call her Samantha, for that is her name. All she needs to do is one of those backwards hair flicks.



Yep, there we go. So so clichéd but so good to see it back, if it’s ever been away. It has to be said that lead singer Jamie does a pretty mean hair flick himself.

Did I get a close up of the bass player you ask. Of course.



They clear the field but I really like them. More please.

Or has everyone headed over to Cast. We have a decision to make. Cast or a comedian called Monkhouse, who isn’t any relation to the late great Bob, I don’t think but then I don’t know my comedy. Clearly though he'll still have a lot to live up to. Cast win.

Cast don't seem to have aged at all or changed even and John Power along with the rest of the original line up pull a big crowd to the main stage. They have a few new ones to play us as well as plenty from the last 15 years. The trio of ‘Walkaway’, ‘Alright’ and ‘Free Me’ finish a pretty good set.



Time for another pint, or not. All the beer has gone by 4pm! Shocking. I'm guessing but I think this must be the first time they’ve tried a real ale tent. Seriously up the beer order next year guys.

The ungoogleable Virgin Mary prove to be more bloody than virginal, time for that curry I think. After which we wander back up to the courtyard and see a comedian called Wes Zahruk, who doesn’t have any jokes just comedic behaviour or should that be just downright weird behaviour. He can do things with vacuum cleaners and sink plungers that I really don’t want to tell you about.



Then I'm hastened quickly past Cecile Grey, who is dull but cute.



Which is something that could also be said of Eliza Doolittle. I concentrate on the cute part via the big screen while my partner joins a bladder testing toilet queue. Seriously up the portaloo order next year guys. By the time my partner reemerges I’ve gone off even the cute idea, we skip the rest of Eliza.



Instead West Bridgford's Dog Is Dead, who seem to get an invite to play here every year. This is their third appearance in four years and they’ve now got a record deal to brag about. They also pull a huge and vocal crowd. Fair play to them but they sound like Friendly Fires to me. Time for a sit down and to discuss tactics for the finale.



After alternating bands all day the organisers have decided to pitch Blondie head to head with the Bluetones. We’re heard more than a few grumbles about this, as couples seem split over who to see. We too want to see both. We decide to get an early spot for Blondie, watch fifteen minutes or so before moving over to the Bluetones and hence bag a good spot for Feeder, which is the main reason we’re here before legging it whilst the Scissor Sisters are on.

As ‘Union City Blue’ drifts across the field towards us we realise Blondie have scuppered this plan by coming on a full fifteen minutes early, which is so un-rock n roll. Somehow we squeeze in down the front to the side of the stage and watch Debbie Harry pirouette to ‘Atomic’ in some strange blue tutu outfit.



In the end they do us a favour by starting early, by the time new track ‘Mother’ rings out we’ve seen enough and now we can see all of the Bluetones set. Which is doubly fortunate because they proved to be the best act of the night.

Hounslow’s finest have announced that they are to split and have scheduled a final tour for the autumn. I have never seen them live, despite loving their early stuff, ‘Expecting to Fly’ was one of the best albums of 1996. It’s really remiss of me, so at least I put one wrong to right tonight.



They are excellent from the opening ‘Bluetonic’ to the closing ‘If...’ via ‘Slight Return’ of course, many people’s favourite and Mark Morris’s personal favourite ‘Never Going Nowhere’. I’m with Mark. Also excellent is the heavily requested (by the folks next to me anyway) ‘Carnt Be Trusted’ (from ‘Expecting to Fly’), and then there’s ‘Marblehead Johnson’ and many others. Great stuff.



Morris in particular is very humble and appreciative of our attendance. As they say, they realise we have a choice between which ‘has beens’ to see and they don’t come any bigger in the ‘has been’ stakes that the legendary Blondie. The 'tones' even parody Debbie Harry and co with a bit of excellent improvisation by their drummer and guitarist as they make a stab at the intro to ‘Heart of Glass’.

If anything the word ‘Splendour’ fits this band better than any other tonight. Terrific stuff. This will be their last visit to Nottingham but some of those farewell dates in other cities are looking very attractive.

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So to Feeder, who have no trouble at all in pulling a big crowd but then the Scissors Sisters aren’t due on yet but I can’t imagine there being much crossover fan wise. I thought perhaps tonight Feeder would concentrate on the hits and quite looked forward to that but no they still blend old and new together and do so quite nicely, playing five tracks off the now year old Renegades album.



It’s a manic gig, the crowd are lively or just pissed up and we have to move out of the mosh a bit whilst still maintaining our near front row view. Despite the crowd being up for it, they don’t quite take the hint when Grant tries a teasing intro to ‘Buck Rogers’. If they don’t want it mate, don’t play it, play ‘My Perfect Day’ instead I dream.

Highlights... I don’t know. It’s always good to hear ‘White Lines’, they don’t always play that. Of the classics, some suit the open air better than others. ‘Come Back Around’ for instance comes across rather tamely where as ‘Just The Way I'm Feeling’ is a perfect fit.

I guess somebody had to dedicate something to Amy Winehouse tonight and its Feeder who do it but dedicating ‘High’ could be taken one of two ways. He could be being a little tongue in cheek but then again the song was chosen by Jon Lee’s (former Feeder drummer) parents to be played at his funeral, so perhaps not.



‘High’ actually should be the perfect festival tune but it’s sadly not quite well known enough to get a mega sing-along going. The traditional closing ‘Just A Day’ though, goes down well everywhere.



They’re good, as ever, but too brief. Despite headlining the Jägermeister stage they only get an hour and no encore, while the Scissor Sisters gyrate in their... whatever they were wearing... jumps suits and bin bags? for another hour and a quarter. I was hoping to give Jake Shears and co a miss but Feeder finish too early. Even so a quick glance at the big screen is enough. Off home.

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The Icicle Works, Academy 2, Birmingham

Its 6pm doors tonight at Academy 2 but there’s no support band. WTF. So it’s a bit of a drag waiting for the main band to come on, to say the least. There are only so many pints of Tuborg you can stomach while you wait e.g. one. Merchandising doesn’t keep us occupied for long. Sadly there’s no tour t-shirt, a special would have been nice because tonight it’s the 30th Anniversary Tour for The Icicle Works.

We were kind of here for the 25th, although the ‘here’ we had to go to was only as far as Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms on that occasion. That was the first time Ian McNabb had toured under the Icicle Works name for 15 years, then after a string of dates in 2006 and 2007 he retired it again. The purists (like me) were a bit miffed that original members Chris Layhe and Chris Sharrock weren’t involved but we had to lump it. Sharrock, to be fair, has been a bit busy and is currently spending his time with one of the Gallaghers in Beady Eye.

The line-up that takes the stage tonight, the last of just four dates celebrating their anniversary, is the same as that 2006 version: - bassist Roy Corkill, keyboard player Richard Naiff and the drumstick twirling ‘Dodgy’ drummer Matthew Priest.

They open with ‘When It All Comes Down’ a single only release from 1985, the extended version. If they're all as long as this, we might be here all night. McNabb confirms that possibility when he announces there’s no curfew tonight, so they can play as long as they like, and I see the colour drain out of my partners face. She prefers her gigs short and punchy, plus she’s got an early start for a half marathon tomorrow. Cheer up, this one’s your favourite, it’s ‘Evangeline’.



A nostalgic trawl through the band’s back catalogue follows: - ‘Little Girl Lost’, ‘Seven Horses’, ‘Rapids’ then what he describes as Scouse country rock ‘Who Do You Want For Your Love?’. Third LP side 1 track 5 he tells us, from a day when albums had sides.

McNabb’s voice still sounds great on all of these and he’s certainly giving it his all. He’s already dripping with sweat, yet he won't give up that army jacket. Which changes colour before our eyes, track by track, getting darker and darker as it gets wetter.



The title track from the fourth album ‘Blind’, the last the original trio recorded, follows with its ‘there's an actor in the White House’ lyric. He probably meant Reagan but he sings it as if it’s still relevant.

‘Melanie Still Hurts’ from ‘Permanent Damage’ recorded after the original line up broke up, is a run through his ex-girlfriends. Julie, Jackie, Carol - check. Sarah, Karen, Michelle - check. Though, he quips that, at only three minutes and forty seconds it only take us up to 1985.



Then there's the heavier 'Shit Creek' which I just don't get and never did. ’Starry Blue Eyed Wonder’ is as good as ever and then, an hour in, if you’re old school you settle in for some indulgence, if you’re not you’re in some trouble. Seven of the next nine tracks come from their self titled debut album. The audience is split, half are ecstatic, the other half are looking at their watches. L is texting furiously and I don’t think it’s a review the Sunday Times is going to print.

We get a convoluted introduction to ‘Reaping The Rich Harvest’ in which McNabb confesses he has no idea what the song is about but assures us it sounds good. This causes confusion amongst the rest of the band, as this is not the next song on the set list. Yet, having given the song such a build up, they have to revise the order



Richard Naiff's piano and keyboard playing was a delight all night, as was his recorder playing on ‘Lover's Day’. Then the dark and brooding ‘What She Did To My Mind’, pretty outstanding despite its four false endings and it’s followed by 'Up Here In The North Of England'. McNabb's view of north/south divide circa 1986. Tonight, he decides that Birmingham is more north than south.

Then after a trio of excellent cuts from that first album, the two hour set is finally ended with 'Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream)'



They come out for an encore with McNabb still in the same sodden jacket for a rocking 'Understanding Jane' but he must be feeling the heat because he’s removed his shades. Then they go off again. How quaint. No one splits their encores anymore. How eighties.

They’re soon back again, as is the jacket, for ‘Love Is A Wonderful Colour’ who some x-person off x-factor called Rhydian has just covered and the closing ‘Hollow Horse’.

To be honest it was probably 4 or 5 tracks too long but the ones I would have axed wouldn't have been the ones to go. It was so good to hear old album tracks like ‘As The Dragonfly Flies’ and ‘Factory In The Desert’.

I imagine now its back to Ian McNabb solo shows, at least until the 35th anniversary.

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Hard-Fi, Bodega Social Club, Nottingham

We’re back at one of my favourite venues tonight, The Bodega Social Club. Built in 1901 by The Bodega Wine Company and now the self styled ‘coolest bar in Nottingham’, famed for catching successful bands on the cusp of super-stardom or in tonight’s case... giving a low-key airing to new material from the band Hard-Fi or perhaps they’re returning to something approaching their true level... time will tell.

The last time Hard-Fi were in Nottingham was December 2007 and it was to play the Arena, which surprised me. I didn’t know they were that popular. Ok it was only half full but that's still 4000 people, tonight they play to less than 300. Not that I'm complaining, as I've said the Bodega is one of my favourite venues.

To be fair to them, their fan base probably hasn’t collapsed; this is a 'secret show' which wasn’t even mentioned on the Bodega's website until yesterday. I got to know about it because they are one of a multitude of bands I get email from.

There’s no support and the band emerge at around 8.30 to the strains of Ennio Morricone to tell us what they’ve been up to for the last three years. Which is... ‘nothing really’ as lead singer Richard Archer admits. So Rich, just what did happen to that album you promised us for 2009?

‘Tied Up Too Tight’ from their debut album ‘Stars Of CCTV’ kicks off the night as the boys attempt to ‘sharpen ourselves up and get match fit’, presumably for a more substantial tour later in the year.



‘Nothing’ isn’t what the entire band have been up because Ross the guitarist has been training to be a hairdresser... Ah, so the money from 'Once Upon a Time in the West' has run out then. Welcome back. Looks like Ross has a ring on a significant finger as well. If he’s got a wife burning the cheque book at both ends then there’s no wonder they’re back to ‘working for the cash machine’.

Archer tells us that ‘we're gonna play some new songs, so you’re gonna have to roll with us’ before playing a couple for us. With no big Arena style screen to distract the punters, the focus really is on the band tonight to show us what they’ve come up with.



Well, there’s clearly not going to be any great change of musical direction because neither ‘Bring It On’ nor ‘Lovesong’ are big departures from what they’ve done before but both seem acceptable indie rock, although obviously it’s hard to judge on one listen.

Tonight is one of just three dates they announced last month, Bristol and Brighton being the others, with tickets only a tenner. They have since added a London date next month. So why Nottingham and why the Bodega? Archer explains they played perhaps their second or third ever gig here. That’s cool, I like that. A band revisiting an early venue of theirs.



They are chatty throughout, particularly Archer, but it’s mostly of the ‘are you alright Nottingham’ variety. ‘We need the practice’, he concedes, perhaps he means with the banter as well.

Oldies ‘Can't Get Along (Without You)’ and ‘We Need Love’ lead us into the new ‘Stay Alive’. Which starts off a bit more dance orientated and passes me by a bit until the guitars come in but it never reaches any great heights.

The band remain heavily reliant on backing tracks and all the keyboards come pre-recorded on tape, unless one of those equipment boxes is housing a secret fifth member. In fact all the old tracks are so perfectly reproduced I begin to wonder what else is on tape but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and just say they were very proficient. Even if I wasn’t sure Archer was playing that blow keyboard thing for the intro to the breadline anthem ‘Cash Machine’.



‘Good For Nothing’ is to be their comeback single. It’s not the most instant of their new stuff but still has some promise. Their biggest hit ‘Suburban Knights’ follows and gets the Bodega jumping. Not that I’ve every really understood the popularity of what I think is one of their weakest singles.

So far they’ve not played anything, old or new, with the Clash-like reggae-ishness that they used to dabble in, that is until we get to ‘Sweat’ which is quite funky, for want of a better word.

By aiming this gig at their mailing list they know they’ve not got to win anyone over tonight but still yet another new track perhaps stretches things a little bit. That’s eleven tracks so far and six of them new ones. Someone calls out for the title track of ‘Stars Of CCTV’ without success and we get ‘Fire in the House’ instead. Which turns out to be my favourite newbie of the night. Darkly mysterious and brooding.

‘Hard To Beat’, which closes the set, remains, well ‘hard to beat’ and is a storming way to finish, with the now lively Bodega lapping it up.



Bands either come back very quickly for an encore at the Bodega or take ages. This, I imagine, depends on whether they decide to return to the dressing room, which is on the floor below or just loiter at the top of what are a fairly fearsome set of stairs. Hard-Fi take their time but when they do emerge it is with an interesting choice for the start of the encore.

‘Television’ enables Archer to demonstrate his guitar prowess for the first time tonight as he does the intro solo and it probably provides the best moment of the night. Then to close, we get a frenzied ‘Living For The Weekend’, which sounds reassuringly messy tonight, proving that they’re not as polished or as taped as they look at times. It’s a song about dead end jobs, which begs the question, what’s it to be Ross? Hairdresser or rock star?

An entertaining evening but I’m not sure I’ve heard anything here that’s going to propel them back to Arena-dom. Still, they’ll be hoping that despite their affection for the Bodega that this won’t be their destination the next time they drop into Nottingham.

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British Sea Power, Rugby Library

Tonight I battle with Rugby’s car parks. They’re all full. It must all be happening tonight. The cars are parked ten deep around my destination. Yep, Asda next door is really busy tonight. Who the hell does their weekly shop on a Friday night? Not me, there's culture to be had this evening, I'm off to the library.

British Sea Power have played some rather weird places, in fact earlier this week they played on a boat outside the Houses Of Parliament, in aid of renewable energy. Tonight they are live in Rugby’s Library, an event intended to highlight the over keenness of councils to close libraries. It has been organised in collaboration with the ‘Get It Loud In Libraries’ project.


Security was crap, there are no actual tickets and I got in with a printed email of my booking. If I'd know, I'd have printed a few more off and sold them outside. Then I could have afforded a t-shirt because I’ve not had time to visit the hole in the wall.

I have expected the gig to be taking part in some annex or meeting room but no, it’s slap bang in the centre of the library which is pleasantly small and intimate.



Although the book shelves do restrict the number of potential viewing points somewhat. What's worse is that if you try to nip down an isle to uncover some secret route to the front you find your way blocked by a pile of the band's discarded equipment boxes.

Having explored all down one side of the room and decided that although the view from the poetry section was ok it wasn’t great, I decided to try the other side. In the end I get a really good spot. If you know Rugby library, I was just ahead of the Hindi reference section not far from the magazine racks, which were stage left.



During all my jostling for position the support band are playing. ‘Life In Film’ are another perfectly adequate guitar based indie band, with plenty of lively, jingling tunes. Better than most in fact. I shall certainly keep a look out for them.



It was interesting to see what the acoustics would be like, as I imagine it’s not something that libraries are known for. I mean you're not supposed to make much noise are you. ‘Life In Film’ make plenty and the acoustics seem surprisingly good. The stage too is reasonably high and there’s no barriers between the band and crowd, just a ‘bad sound area’ marked out on the floor which I think you’re supposed to keep out of. So all set for a good gig then. Although no foliage or flags adorn the stage tonight. Damn library rules. There’s also no alcohol only a coffee machine, even the band’s own Zeus beer isn’t available until afterwards. If the crowd are all on maxpax coffee it could get very lively indeed.

There’s not much of a break between bands for once and then after a brief welcome chat by our hosts, it is suggested that we have some music. The band take the stage and oblige, launching into their most recent protest song 'Who's In Control', the opening track from their latest ‘Valhalla Dancehall’ album. An appropriate choice with its lyric ‘I'm a big fan of the local library, I just read a book but that's another story...’ and matching t-shirt.



The crowd seemed a tad subdued to start with, perhaps keeping in line with the location but the show gradually picks up momentum helped by a ferocious 'Apologies to Insect Life' and lively newies such as ‘We Are Sound’ and a particularly impressive ‘Stunde Null’.



‘Lights Out For Darker Skies’ is always quality but it’s especially good tonight. Then the brothers do their traditional mid set swap and Yan hands over vocals to Hamilton. Who delivers the quartet of ‘No Lucifer’, ‘The Land Beyond’, ‘Once More Now’ and the tremendous ‘Mongk II’. Now no disrespect to Yan but I always look forward to Hamilton’s segment. He really does seem to get a lot of the best tunes.



I haven’t seen them on this current tour before and it’s great to see a load of not played enough classics reappear in a reshaped set, such as Hamilton’s ‘The Land Beyond’. One of three from the often largely ignored 'Open Season' album, from which Yan, once he returns to lead vocals, spoils us indeed with both 'Oh Larsen B', everyone’s fave ice shelf, which is massive and 'It Ended On An Oily Stage'.



Those come after a hugely impressive ‘Zeus’, at which points the library starts to get more lively than it probably ought to and a group of girls rush the ‘bad sound line’. ‘Thin Black Sail’ doesn’t calm things down at all. All we need now is Noble to go off on one of his usual climbing sprees atop the Modern History section but disappointingly and probably wisely, it doesn’t happen. I have visions of library shelves coming crashing down. He does refer us to an interesting section on ferrets but shows no inclination to climb up there to show us personally.



Recent single 'Living Is So Easy' leads us into a final sequence of ‘Waving Flags’, ‘Great Skua’, ‘Carrion’ and ‘All In It’. I think my hearing collapses during ‘Carrion’. The gig certainly wasn't quiet. I was standing right in front of the left speaker and as the band go off I realise that I've already got a hissing noise in my left ear and there’s still the encore to come.



The set list had Open Season's ‘Like A Honeycomb’ down as part of a three song encore which would just have completed my night but sadly things were running late. I had no idea what the curfew was on a library but I think we found it. Ours at home is 7.30, so we did well and we did get a twenty song main set. What we do get is a typically rousing ‘Spirit Of St. Louis’ to close.

BSP have had their problems of late and had to cancel their European Tour for financial reasons, whether this is low ticket sales or low album sales or something else I’m not sure but they’re certainly popular tonight and have pretty much sold out all their UK dates. Tonight, I thought they were exceptional. I nip out, find a cash point and get that t-shirt. For which you can get a discount with your library card.

Next up for the band... Jodrell Bank apparently.

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Feeder, The Assembly, Leamington Spa

Tonight, Feeder for the second time in four days. We’re in Leamington Spa, which is a very pleasant old town. So nice in fact, that it makes you wonder why they let the students invade. The venue is called ‘The Assembly’, which opened its doors as a concert venue only in 2008 after a multi-million pound redevelopment that was designed by Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen but we won't hold that against it.



Originally built in 1926, and called The Bath Assembly Hall, it was the place to go for your Foxtrot, your Waltz or your Quickstep. I only half know what they are, I read it on their website. It was later renamed ‘The Palais de Danseand’ and claims to have invented ‘The Palais Glide’. Now I’ve heard of that.

Like a lot of old dance halls and theatres it had most recently been a bingo hall. It’s good to see it now being put to better use, although it seems very quiet tonight compared with Rock City on Monday, although also sold out.

Love Amongst Ruin are first to take to the salubrious Art-Deco surroundings. Love Amongst Ruin were founded by Steve Hewitt, former drummer and songwriter with Placebo. He has teamed up with Julian Cope’s former right hand man Donald Ross Skinner, so this five-piece has something going for it already and interest for me.

The results, however, are nothing like Placebo or Cope’s music for that matter. Their sound is quite heavy, the songs quite sad or perhaps it’s just that Hewitt has a sad anguished sort of face.



Their cover of Thin Lizzy's ‘Got To Give It Up’ is dedicated to the deceased Lynott and Moore and no longer to ‘an ex-friend of mine’ he tells us. Oooh is that a dig at his former band? He was sacked from Placebo. That it is their best moment perhaps isn't surprising.

Hewitt refers to ‘the mighty Feeder’ after every song. I’m not sure if he’s trying to be ironic or not. I mean Placebo were pretty big themselves.

Then when they finish with a track called ‘Home’ I wonder if there could be some kind of weird symmetry about to happen here...

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And so it proves as Feeder tonight open with ‘Home’. 'Home' makes a good opener. In fact I would go as far to say it sounds better there. Then I realise I owe apologises to ‘Insomnia’, which I dissed a bit on Monday. It was deadly tonight.



A change of opener isn’t the only flirtation with the set list tonight. Shock horror. Feeder shuffle set list. A bit. ‘This Town’ and ‘Sentimental’ swap positions, which is daring stuff for Feeder. Who says they don’t vary the set list enough? Oh yeah. It was me wasn’t it.

Grant aborts ‘Feeling A Moment’ and then restarts it. Not totally sure why, it sounded ok first time to me.



‘Renegades’ is again ace but then I reckon the sound is really good here, better than Rock City even but my partner disagree. So perhaps it’s just me. It’s a good venue though with a really high stage.

There are shouts again from the crowd for ‘Turn’, maybe one day.



Of the singles, ‘Seven Days In The Sun’ again stands out. ‘Buck Rogers’, which precedes it, again gets worked over by its bigger brasher ‘Echo Park’ brother.

There’s good news in that ‘White Lines’ is back; it has been missed and is the best of the ‘Renegades’ stuff tonight. Then Grant announces ‘one for the old school....’ which is only ‘High’, of course.



The encore remains the same. I reckon ‘Tumble And Fall’ is in to show off Damon’s drumming. He does do a great intro to it. He is again resplendent in shorts and something that looks like a dog collar but not much else.

At the end after another cracking rendition of ‘Breed’, my partner catches a plectrum and I, finally, after 25 years of trying, get a drum stick. What a pair of groupies.

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