Gig flashback - Polysics (King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow, 23rd July, 2004)

It's been a while since I posted one of these...but, I was rummaging around in an old image hosting account. These photos are from the summer of 2004, before I even got my first digital camera.

Hmmm...I guess I must have borrowed one from a friend.

Those were the days, weren't they? I realise there is one other happy snapper caught in one of the below photos, but that's ok. There wasn't enough digital cameras around to get annoyed about. No endless sea of little lit-up screens in front of you at every single gig. I know I'm guilty of being "one of those annoying people" at times as well. But, I'm trying to cut down.

I remember being introduced to Polysics by the TV show Adam and Joe Go Tokyo. They were the musical guests in one of the episodes and just blew me away with their DEVO-on-crazy-pills antics. When they announced a Glasgow show, there was no way in hell I was going to miss out.

And while I'm at it, here's a video for their song I My Me Mine...

awesomes...

Gig flashback - Bobby Conn & The Glass Gypsies (Scala, 9th June, 2005)

Bobby Conn has been suspiciously quiet the last few years. He released his last album, King For A Day, in early 2007 and then he seemed to vanish off the face of the planet. The internet suggest that he became a dad and took a step back from music, so I guess we'll go with that as an explanation. Anyway, HE'S BACK! There's word of a new album and he's playing the Brixton Windmill on 27th November. Apparently, he will do a 'Don't Look Back'-style show and play his Rise Up! album from 1998 in its entirety. You should really try and make it to this show. Bobby is an incredible performer and his shows are never less than fucking amazing.

The photos below are from summer 2005, when he played the Scala in London.

Gig flashback - Bergman Rock (Camden Barfly, 12th April 2006)

So, I'm at my mum's house for the weekend and thought I would look through her old computer before it's thrown out. I found a Nik folder and inside, some gig photos from when I first arrived in London.

Bergman Rock at Barfly was insane. In case you don't know...Bergman Rock is the English-language alter ego of Swedish pop legends Bob Hund (one of the best bands to come out of Sweden ever). The same band members, playing similar kind of music, but in English. And that's the main problem. It's just not the same in English. Bob Hund's Swedish lyrics are absolutely incredible....anyway, it was a great show. The band and the audience went completely crazy.







Bergman Rock on myspace

Gig Flashback - Matt & Kim (Camden Barfly, 9th November 2007)

The Barfly is a terrible venue, but it still holds many fond gig memories for me. It was there I saw Jeffrey Lewis for the first time (supporting Quasi and with Franic and Dave from the Wave Pictures as his backing band). I've seen The Thermals there, as well as Bergman Rock and also Matt and Kim. Which brings me to this post - Matt and Kim at Barfly on 9th November 2007. They were supported by Yeasayer, who as a result of not being very good has now gone on to much bigger things. Matt and Kim, despite being completely awesome in every possible way, has since gone on to only slightly bigger things.

I have seen Matt and Kim at least four times now and they have never been less than amazing. I've always left their shows with a big grin on my face, with my belief in live music fully restored. They're doing pretty well at the moment and they truly deserve all the success in the world...I just hope they manage to keep up their relentless energy and positive attitude.

Anyway, some photos from the night....











Matt and Kim's official website.

They have a new album coming out this year, which is pretty damn exciting. I haven't heard any of the songs yet, but it will most defintely be in the top-10 albums of the year. Otherwise, I will be extremely disappointed.

Gig flashback - Help She Can't Swim (18th March 2006)

A conversation on twitter (with Eddie from the lovely Another Form Of Relief blog) just made me re-visit my old photo bucket account. I re-discovered Help She Can't Swim the other week, especially their brilliant first album Fashionista Saper Dance Troupe. I knew I had taken photos of them at some point and while harddrives have died, computers have been thrown out and/or updated and photo-CD's have been lost over the years, my old photobucket account remains...a bucket full of memories if you like. I have no idea why I uploaded such small versions of the photos at the time, but that's all there is.

Help She Can't Swim - live in-store at the old Rough Trade in Neal's Yard on 18th March 2006.

It was cramped, sweaty and completely awesome.





What can I say? Fermez la fucking bouche! The band broke up in 2007, but Tom still makes music under the name Lonely Ghosts.