Psicle: 17 and counting

Was it really 17 years ago that Debbie and me fell into each other's arms on the banks of the Thames. Seems like only yesterday. That was the end of an evening spent in Gordon's wine bar on Embankment now sadly become a tourist hot spot but back then was a busy and friendly damp cellar serving sherry, wine and port straight from the barrel. It was the port that lowered our social inhibitions and yes I admit led to us kissing in public, well, outside but not many members of the public were around, before parting for the first time. It was love at first port. Definitely not any port in a storm. It was also the port that led to our terrible hangovers the next day with Debbie having to drive to an unknown destination "near Brighton" for her uncle's wedding (she made it) and me watching the FA Cup clash between The Arsenal and Man Utd with a Man U fan. Arsenal won on penalties after a tense but goalless 90+30 minutes. The Arsenal have not won the league since I met Debbie but have won a few more FA Cups. Anyways to celebrate our anniversary at first we consider a sophisticated meal but then opt for the Windmill which has a War Child benefit gig and no, not just supporting kids in Ukraine but also in other war torn places around the globe. Despite asking others it's just the two of us for a romantic date and after cycling up there and throwing Roof Dog's (the current, not the original) tennis ball up to him (her?) for 10 minutes with one of the locals and the door man we get drinks and sit outside in the warm garden chatting about our first date and playing spot the band member surrounded by Spanish speakers . After a while some bloke comes out to inform us that the first band are on which sometimes oddly happens at the Windmill. A good idea as it does get noisy out there.

First up is the excellently named Astrolabio who is a guy dressed in odd coloured tights, mini skirt and crop top. As Debbie says he has a Marc Almond look about him and as he sings he has the same sort of aloof or awkward attitude. He sings in Spanish and the gaggle of Spanish speakers from outside make up the core of his audience but he draws others in too. An odd musical mix that I really enjoyed but Debbie not so keen. Our artiste just had backing tracks which he sang to. On the face of it the music was a bit euro disco but without the hype but intermingled in was some great organ-like riffing and runs that reminded me of The Stranglers. Also a sort of pared back electronic vibe to it. Like JJB and Greenfield's Fire and Water LP or the odd Vlad and Olga songs on Stranglers B sides. Anyway very interesting and the crowd liked him. Odd that he had to have a music stand for his lyric sheets. Maybe they were poems in Spanish. We mosey out as he goes into his last track which is a cover of Kylie's can't get you out of my head which was a particularly brilliant slice of pop disco. After I bump into him and he told me that it was all his own original music and I told him to check out Fire and Water. As an aside, given I'm already waffling, I checked out when I saw Kylie with the Scissor Sisters at Glastonbury and it was in 2010. As I perused my blog of that year I see that weirdly I saw The Stranglers there and the Scissor Sisters and Kylie sandwiched between Kate Nash and George Clinton both of whom I'm going to see next week. Strange hey.

After taking in a breath of fresh air we are again informed that the next band is on and we obediently troop back inside This is a more traditional drums, bass, two guitars and keyboards all male (well, they look like they identify as male but I guess you shouldn't assume) band called Pleasure Complex. At first they feel a bit like a solid but nothing out of the ordinary indie rock band but as they progress they hit a very hard edged funky vibe where heavy funk and rocking out clash together. A typically lazy comparison that I love to give is the Red Hot Chilli Peppers (my view) meets Franz Ferdinand (Debs). Of course the Chilli's would have been heavily influenced by Funkadelic. The crowd loved them and the energy ignited a mosh pit which was pretty raucous by Windmill standards seeing as it's so small on the dance floor. And there's the danger of either knocking over the speakers or trampling on the band's stuff which has to be piled up at the side of the dance floor. Anyway a great set which I probably agree with Debbie is the best of the night. Who said a rock band can't play funk?

We don't get a stage call for the last act Ghost Car. But we're in there anyway. Four sassy women (see previous assumptions comment) who carry on the energetic vibe with dancing near moshing and a few crowd surfers by bombarding us with a set of hard edged punk in a riot grrl style veering off into steady rock and roll in a B52s twangyness. It's great and at times messy with the guitarist rolling on the floor in a proper rock n roll style. The drumming is tight and the bassist gets a fantastically hard sound out of her Paul McCartney-esque bass (the one that looks like a violin - and no I don't intend to go see him at Glastonbury this year). The keyboard player fills in the gaps and also makes use of theremin which is always a good instrument to have on stage. They leave to rapturous applause and we unlock our bikes whilst watching yet another person entertaining roof dog. This time with a deflated football. A great way to celebrate 17 years and back home we wonder if we'll be celebrating the next 17th at the Windmill. God the age calculation is not worth thinking about!