Gigs

Gig Reviews

Gig nights, questionable decisions and absolutely no PR fluff.

If I make it to a gig, I’ll stick it up here. No glossy reviews, no press-release nonsense, and absolutely no pretending the support act changed my life unless they actually did.

Expect a few photos, maybe a shaky video, and an honest verdict that usually depends on sound quality, setlist choices and how ridiculous the bar queue was.

Most gigs involve the regular crew — Hammy, Neil and Jimmy — with my sister Tamara now promoted to semi-regular status after repeated appearances. These are the reliable ones who say “yes” and mean it.

Sometimes the group grows, sometimes a wildcard turns up, but there is always a moment that seemed like a good idea at the time.

Certain artists keep reappearing too. Cast, Lightning Seeds, Paul Heaton and Ocean Colour Scene have all shown up more than once. If they are good live, I go again. That counts as research.

Reviews here only go back to 2024. Before that, there were hundreds more gigs that never made it onto the page. In the 90s and well into the 2000s, we were not living in today’s social media world, so nobody was documenting everything, posting clips or writing instant verdicts.

We just went, watched, shouted and went home. Poor for the archive, great for the memories.