So, were Night Birds any good? Holy flippin’ heck, they were so good. I was expecting to enjoy them, but they were so much better than even I had hoped; a perfect combination of great songs, a bit of fun and tons of energy. I’m just gutted that I forgot my camera, just like I did for the Punch gig; I took a few pictures with my phone, but it’s not the same and they didn’t come out too well. I really must get myself a smaller camera that’s easier to carry around.
Anyway, I got to spend a bit of time with Night Birds singer Brian; we’d exchanged a few emails and did an interview (Night Birds interview at suspectdevicehq.co.uk), so it was good to find he was such a cool guy, and it was fun to hang out for a while.
I also go to meet Alex from Grave Mistake Records, who was over with the band. He’s been good to enough to send us quite a bit of stuff for review recently, and it was nice to find he is also a really nice guy. He did offer to give me a copy of the new Brain F≢ LP (“Sleep Rough”) for review, but after all the free CDs and records he’s sent over from the US it was the least I could do to buy a copy of the record, and what a belter it is. I liked their singles, but this is so much better. They have a better sound on this release, but still retain the rough edges to their songs which makes them so interesting. The record is on lovely green vinyl too.
I also bought a vinyl copy of the Night Birds album, because I couldn’t resist having it on vinyl as well as CD.
There were friendly locals there too, and it was nice to catch up with Ralf, Darren and Buz, plusd Tom Hussey was there again and Tom Ellis too; no Pete though as he was sunning himself in Turkey. I probably feel more at home at gigs in Brighton than I do in Southampton these days; I probably go to more gigs in Brighton these days though.
Some local bands also played and it was the first time I’d seen any of them, hopefully it won’t be the last.
This gig was in the same place as the Punch one, and again finished early, so I was home and in bed before midnight. Now that’s rock n roll for you!
Other musical goodies include some new Epic Problem songs. Mackie has sent me the initial mixes of three of their new ones, and they are sounding really good. I liked the stuff on their debut, self released CDEP, but these push the quality bar up a few notches. I’m not sure what kind of release they’ll be getting, but hopefully you’ll all get to hear them soon.
A self released CD by four Bristol bands came in from one of the featured bands, This Ends Now, and I really like the DIY nature of the release, also God Given Ass from Finland sent their new 7”EP, which I haven’t played yet, but both releases will get a review in the new Suspect device, which is almost done.
I’ve also been playing Cólera a fair bit after hearing the sad news that their singer/guitarist, Redson, died from a heart attack on 28th September 2011; he was only 49.
Other bands that have been getting a lot of playing time from me this week include the wonderful Terrible Feelings from Sweden, Speed Kills from Brazil and old stuff from Amsterdamned, The Dishrags and Eyes. I particularly liked The Dishrags, a band I’m completely missed back in the late ‘70s, but I’m enjoying catching up now.
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