Absent Debbie

Simon bought 4 tickets for the Absent Kelly indie indulgence (as it's billed) night so that he, me, Jules and Debbie can have a lovely couples night out at the Great Portland Street 229 Club. Unfortunately babysitting arrangements didn't materialise and so Debbie had to cancel at the last moment. Luckily Chris jumped in to get the spare and so was my partner for the night. Well, until we parted at Stockwell. I don't wanna get any tongues wagging. God, maybe I'll stop there.

As there are 6 bands I suggest getting down early and after a load of kerfuffle via email and text we agree to meet at 7.30. As I'm walking to the tube I hear that Chris won't be there til 8.30 so I decide to catch the second half of The Arsenal v Manure game. I've had a hard day and in a pretty downbeat mood and seeing our woeful defending (I'd written that before I saw the first own goal on The Arsenal TV) and inability to finish a move with even a shot on target, even a shot off target would be a start, by the time I'm standing on the platform at Balham tube I'm just about ready to chuck myself on the live track. Considering if Simon will claim the ticket price from my estate I decide to go ahead. To the gig. Next up I'm sat in the Green Man at Great Portland Street on me tod watching bloody rugby. Thinking it can't get much worse Simon and Jules arrive and blame me for the fact that we're not already in the gig and where is Chris? Blimey that's rich. And the boy wonder swigs the rest of me pint. The only reason I don't sock him on the snout is cos I don't want my fingers anywhere near his ridiculous movember tash. Actually it's quite a good one, although Jules thinks not, as tashes go as all are faintly ridiculous, . Anyways we saunter off to the venue which is under a student hostel. Not the same big room as when we saw Eddie and the Hot Rods and The Members but a smaller place. Chris soon arrives and we trundle downstairs to be stamped with a pink PAID sign and then greeted by...

Temple Velocity deliver a fast punky rock sound which brightened up my mood considerably. Unfortunately we only caught a couple of numbers (don't go there Jim - just let it lie as Vic would say!) but they sounded like they'd be worth checking out in future. An aside. I think they were Temple Velocity but could possibly have been The Influence if the order of play was changed from that advertised but we definitely had missed Justin O’Sullivan. The music and lager are livening us up in readiness for band number two (for us).

Secret Orchards are a cool looking 4 piece who deliver a tight set fit for dancing although as the crowd was pretty quiet I didn't embarrass myself, my friends and the band by dad dancing on my own down the front. I'd only had a few beers by this time. As I'm bemoaning the atmosphere even though we're in a small room it seems pretty empty. Each band has it's own group of followers who didn't seem to get there early enough for supporting acts or hang around afterwards for the others. Very odd but maybe punters feel that 6 quid is cheap enough to just see one band. Their friends band. Anyway I shuffle around a bit and nod my head even taking my hands out of my pockets for the Orchards. They have a sort of 80s festival feel to them being a combination of chunky danceable bass tight drumming and indie swooping guitar and keyboards. If Wednesday's gig (psicle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/words-to-blind.html) had been a Level 42 vs Echo & the Bunnymen sound clash then this might well be the result. Jules didn't like the vocals but the miserabilist monotonics fitted well with the overall psychedelic vibe. For me the band of the night with the headliners a whisker behind. By this time we've discovered that the bar sells Punk IPA which for some reason I've already checked out as being a cruelty free drink (www.barnivore.com/search?keyword=brewdog) with a lovely sweet taste with a brew dog bite. This prepares us for band three.

Eskimos also have a sweet taste and entertain us with some pretty decent power pop rock. This probably gets more people moving and some look like they maybe dancing but not sure if that's just cos they've got more friends than the other bands. Good but lacking a certain bite. Maybe take a few tips from the Brewdog brewers.

Young Minorities are last up and again remind me of punky festival type acts. It's a sort of neo ska bass and drums but without the off beat chucka chucka choppy guitars instead replaced with a more direct punk / rock guitar meandering into improv solo territory at times. But not quite and we stay on the road of rock guitarwise. The lead singer sounded American to me but maybe that was his baseball hat and general dress. They're advertised as from Hertfordshire which doesn't have a twang as far as I can remember from my summer in Harlow. I know it's Essex but you can spit into Herts from the city limits. I digress. The band were very good and we all called out for more to no avail including the band themselves pleading with the sound man who then left on a track and buggered off from the mix desk. The lights come on and we all pile out. A warm dry night and we try to get a drink in a couple of bars as we walk back to Warren Street. Unfortunately Simon goes in first and gets turfed out of every place presumably for having a growth on upper lip. The tube is busy and I give £2 to a small hunched woman begging working her way up the train. My friends tell me it's going straight on drugs but hey, who am I to judge what others spend their money on. Better that than dead meat in my humble opinion. I also hate the way that we were told over the tannoy to avoid giving money to beggars on the tube. This was blasted out to us just as the train pulled away so I guess they saw her getting on the train. I also gave £2 to a bloke who stopped me in the street on the way to Balham tube. Probably to be spent on drink but see previous comment. Who am I to cast the first stone when I'm on my way out to down lager and pale ale. I say my goodbyes to my Brixtonite friends and make it safely home to let Debbie know what she missed. Both of us very disappointed she couldn't go. No offence Chris! Later find out that Simon and Jules snuck off to a disco on the way home. And Jules sends a pic of Simon's dodgy dancing to prove it. All in all a good night and worth every penny. Which you will get Simon. Eventually. As Manuel said about forgetting about the horse that Basil put his money on. You, dear reader, will be pleased to learn that my mood was considerably chirpier by the time I get to bed. Has gone downhill slightly today having watched highlights of The Arsenal match and seen our league table position.

My pic of the headliners

Jules' pic of hmm, think it may be Eskimos