The Wilde Club returns

Following the Wilde Club's 20th anniversary gig in January, Barry Newman has decided to run regular gigs again after a long gap – although just once a month, rather than every Monday night.

The first gig is this coming Wednesday (July 22nd), when David Cronenberg's Wife, Fuck Dress, Tell Me How and The Milgram Experiment take to the Norwich Arts Centre stage.

Tickets are £4 in advance (£5 on the door) from Norwich Arts Centre. The evening kicks off at 8pm.

Indie Overload

My last Hot City Sounds gig of the week was at The Brickmakers/B2, featuring eight bands on two stages.

I missed Cineclub (B2 stage) and Aeroplane (Brickmakers), so the first band I saw were Platform One, on the B2 stage. They were OK but I didn't find them particularly interesting.

Next up, on the Brickmakers stage, were Cold Hands, who played an energetic, edgy and somewhat chaotic set. A band to see again, I think.

Back to the B2 stage and Tin Man. Although a lot of people really like them, I find it difficult to build up much enthusiasm about their performances and tonight's show didn't change my opinion.

So, back to the other stage, and Fever Fever. Their performances can sometimes seem a bit disorganised but they produce some very exciting music. Tonight's set was excellent and appreciated by the packed audience.

Violet Violet started up soon after on the B2 stage. Bass player Kylie left them recently, so Cherie and Fliss now have Rory Hill (of Kabeedies fame) in her place. This performance seemed a bit subdued compared to recent shows but it's not easy when following a band like Fever Fever.

Finally, The Brownies took to the Brickmakers stage. They've developed a particularly tight sound in recent months and used it to good advantage, getting a rousing reception from the audience.

Despite a great performance from The Brownies, I think Fever Fever played my favourite set of the evening. Go and see them soon.

Tilting Sky night

Thursday night was The Tilting Sky night at the Waterfront, presenting four acts – two of them signed to Milkbar Records.

First on were Lunaire, who describe themselves as Industrial/Shoe Gaze/Big Beat. This young four-piece group produced a noisy, rhythmic sound, which boded well for the rest of the evening.

Unfortunately, second act Centaurs were a good example of style over ability/experience, as they played some rather ordinary songs. The blue Rickenbacker bass guitar was probably the most interesting thing about them!

Hasikara Smile were next on – two guys playing bass/guitar over backing tracks. That doesn't sound very promising, but I thought they were pretty good and it's a shame that hardly anyone bothered to listen to them.

Headlining band of the night were Tawny Owl & The Birds Of Prey. Alex Carson was making his second appearance of the week (I think) as part of a six-piece that played a very eclectic mix of songs. It's a pity that they didn't play for a bit longer as they were quite enjoyable and were appreciated by the not particularly large audience.

Tawny Owl Milkbar Exclusive #9 - 'Casablanca'

Back to the music

After a night off, my Hot City Sounds week continued at Norwich Arts Centre with a gig headlined by The Neutrinos.

First up were The Vegas Fame Index. I'd never seen them before and was reasonably impressed with them – a tight guitar/bass/drums trio with an enthusiastic vocalist. They are also appearing in Chapelfield Gardens this coming Saturday afternoon.

I was a bit disappointed with My Visor. I downloaded their free album last year and have played it quite a bit since but the live versions didn't quite cut it, although Keith's guitar was certainly the highlight of their set.

Main support came from the UH OHs, who played an excellent set – they are getting more dynamic with every performance. Their download double single, I Can't Wait/I Am Underdog, was released on June 29th through Little Power Records.


Headliners The Neutrinos started their performance in the foyer before moving on to the stage. They have a considerable following locally, so there was a big crowd for them, but I've never been a great fan of their music – but you can download a few MP3s from their website if you want to make up your own mind.

That free CD

Despite there being gigs at the Arts Centre, the Brickmakers and B2 tonight, I'm having a quiet night at home (watching back-to-back Torchwood episodes).

So, rather than a gig review, here are scans of the front and back of the sleeve for the Hot City Sounds FREE CD -- 24 tracks, just over 75 minutes of music -- FOR NOTHING. Can't be bad, can it?

If you haven't yet been to a HCS gig, pop along to one, enjoy a few locals bands and pick up that CD.

[Click on either image for a larger version]

It's oh so....... QUIET

....well, compared with Sunday's gig, anyway.

Monday at the NAC was the "Electric Busker" night of Hot City Sounds. Looking at the line-up, I wondered how they would fit in 6 acts between 8 and 11pm.

They couldn't, of course, which is why headliner Rory McVicar didn't take to the stage until around 11, so I missed him as I went home then.

Main support were Lowery, who I found to be rather uninspiring and lethargic – quite surprisingly, as some of the band also played with Lost Levels the night before (and I thought they were excellent!).

Alex Carson (& The Electric Bison) explained that they hadn't really rehearsed much together as a band – and it showed! But they were quite entertaining anyway.

Jess Morgan has an excellent singing voice but I'm not sure if I really like her mid-Atlantic folk style, particularly with most of the songs sounding quite similar in style. I think she's also appearing at three other Hot City Sounds shows this week, so you can see if I'm wrong in my opinions!

Girl In A Thunderbolt was refreshingly different, with electric guitar, looped to produce interesting sounds, and soulful vocals.

My highlight of the evening was opening act Lucy Elliott (who also plays in electric trio The Lidi Berlins). Her set was full of vocal and acoustic guitar variation and innovation.

She also had a new 5-track CD EP on sale, which will also be available at future gigs. You can listen to three of the tracks on her my MySpace page (currently the first three in the list).

My faith in Sennen is restored!

A great Sunday night at Norwich Arts Centre with Vanilla Kick, The Lost Levels and Sennen - three bands that aren't easily pigeon-holed (always good as far as I'm concerned).

Vanilla Kick were first on. Lead singer/guitarist Calum had a sore throat, so his vocals were not as good as usual. However, the band were still very good. Look out for their EP launch/headlining performance at the Waterfront on July 29th (with the wonderful Uh Ohs supporting).

The Lost Levels always manage to produce lots of melodic/electronic/noisy guitar music. They did not disappoint tonight. Why have they never released an album?

Sennen have been a favourite band for ages but the last time they played at the Arts Centre I felt that they were just FAR TOO LOUD!

Thankfully, this time the sound guy kept the volume down to just "very loud", they played several new tracks, the cover of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" was in the set (yes!) and the whole set was excellent.

As all three bands were excellent tonight, I think this has to be my gig of the week so far (but there's another six days to go, of course!).

Glory Glory

I popped along to the Marquee, on Cattlemarket Street, last night for my second Hot City Sounds gig.

I quite enjoyed Beeba (a young guy from Suffolk) and Ten City Nation (a trio from Bury St. Edmunds), but I was mainly there to see Glory Glory, a boy/girl duo (Panos on guitar and Shannon on drums) and they didn't disappoint me.

I've been impressed with Shannon's drumming since first seeing her play with Comic Book Heroes and she's pretty good on vocals as well. Go see them soon!

Not too many people turned out to see these bands, which was a shame, and I left before headliners Kunk came on (too much beer!), so I don't know if it filled up later.

Here's a rather rubbish photo of Glory Glory at the Marquee...

Best band of the week - ALREADY?

Although headliners The Kabeedies were up to their usual high standard last night at Norwich Arts Centre for the Hot City Sounds launch night, stand-out band for me were Le Tetsuo.

I've seen them several times before and have always enjoyed them but last night they were stunningly good. Can any of this coming week's other bands surpass them?

I've got a wristband and I'm gonna use it

Hot City Sounds

Tonight sees the start of 9 days of gigs featuring local bands and performers at half a dozen venues around Norwich.

Hot City Sounds, co-ordinated by Kingsley Harris (of NROne Records) kicks off at Norwich Arts Centre with headliners The Kabeedies, ably supported by Le Tetsuo, myboy/mygirl, Dan and Georgia (until recently performing as Ducky Vodka) and Alex Hill.

BBC Introducing are also involved and will be broadcasting from the Arts Centre plus presenting live performances by this evening's bands in their studio at The Forum.

You can purchase an "all-gigs" ticket/wristband for £20 at the NAC, which will give you access to all but one of the week's events. I've got mine, so expect to see me about during the week!