Despite Pete saying he'll get here early I'm first in and the locals are lined up against the wall so I nip outside into the nippy night air. Soon enough Pete arrives and then we tell Simon to shift into gear. Very trendy gear it is too. Todd completes the foursome so talk turns to bikes. In between garden visits and cycling chat we see a few bands. First up are
Hummah who are a 5 piece with two guitars and a sax (sorry Jo) who kick start the evening with a fine set of quirky rock bending towards the psychedelic leanings of Talking Heads with a freaky jazzy feel injection. Maybe it's cos I'm anticipating Gong in a few weeks. Anyways they set us up nicely for the evening. Next up it's a 3 piece called
Martha Skye Murphy which I assume is the woman keyboardist singer. Off beat drummer and bassist synth fiddler complete the line up. Now when I arrived they were sound checking and Martha's voice sounded pretty dodgy on it's own but I realise that her powerful vocals tending towards off key are the perfect floating counterpoint to the music. Which is sort of up beat but trance like get lost in the moment heavy beats keeping feet firmly on the floor whilst mind drifting skywards. Lazy comparison would be Portishead but you know I never go in for that type of cheap writing. But if I were to... The place is packed both inside and outside and the average age seems to be falling dramatically. And not just cos nearly all the locals have left. Next up is the very popular
VÏSTA who I assume knows a few in the room. He has backing music and sings over it. Entertaining in a weird way hopping between modern dance riffs and post hip hoppiness. From what I remember. Somewhat hazy writing it now due to either my poor memory, him not being scintillatingly entertaining or because by the end we got through five pints of Roadie. Probably the former. And so on to the headliners
Pumarosa who I saw belt out a belter of a set a few years ago at Live at Leeds. The one downside of the Windmill is that for a packed audience the space is rubbish with pillars and being pushed at right angles round the bar. I do have a pretty good spot but no room to dance and that can be pretty frustrating. So maybe that's the reason I didn't enjoy them quite as much as before. They sounded good though entertaining us with a psyche tinged indie rock set that had my feet itching to move and hands itching to go skyward. Ah well, just means I'll have to catch them again. And so time to go which for me is cycling home in the pissing rain with just a denim jacket to protect me. Bloody cold too. An excellent night, as every, at the Windmill. It really is a priceless place. Oh, I put one of Bruce's band's stickers in the toilet. Near the amusing "I liked them when they were shit" sticker. Which for the Windmill should be "I liked them before they got shit". Vaccines anyone? So now you HAVE to play here Brucie!
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| The flyer - Stranglers influence? |
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| The best bog in London - amusing sticker on RHS |
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| The Burnout |
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| Hummah - with bassist's hand |
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| Hummah |
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| Martha and friends |
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| VISTA (with 2 dots over the I for some reason) |
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| Pumarosa - the best I could get I'm afraid. See LAL previously for better shots. |
