Time to (re-?)start a thread reporting on gigs you have just seen.


I have just seen 'The Birthday Massacre' at Thekla in Bristol. An unusual venu, it being a boat, but its smaller size helps in creating a closer atmosphere.

TBM is generally characterised by being a lightweight synth sounding band, but once out of the studio the axemens' pent up rock sensibility was set lose. Rocky, heavy and a damn good show. If you like to pogo and bounce then this is for you. The frontwoman was excellent, interacted well with the crowd and not standoffish. The guitar work was mainly chords so don't expect technical rock.

Bouncy, positive vibe, good night out.

I'd love to go a gig... any gig! The last one I went to I won the tickets and the music was so loud that I was forced to leave before the main act even started It was Bros, back in the 90s and I was only a teenager (in my own defence). I do recall that Sonia kicked ass as their warm up act, though!

Here is my current gig list. Given that I will be away for LosCon (Thanksgiving) and most of December (at my brothers) I can't see all that I want to! Minty, I'm sure you can sneak out to a gig somewhere? I would love to be as close as you are to Slimelight.


Tunnels (Doors open 7:30pm)

Jaguar (NWBHM) + Support - Tickets £5 Advance STBF
Friday 05th November

FRAGILE - The Timeless Music of YES: Tickets £10 ADV STBF Door £12
Friday 19th November

DIE SO FLUID Tickets £10 ADV STBF
Tuesday 30th November

Jagged with support from Novus UK plus special guests Tickets £8 Advance / £10 Door
Friday 04th February


O2 Academy

Annihilator + Svölk Sworn Amongst,
18 Nov Thu, Door time: 7.00pm

Skunk Anansie
22 Nov Mon, Door time: 7.00pm

The Cult, Masters of Reality, Romance
"a huge run of shows featuring new/unrecorded material and rarely played tracks. "
19 Jan 2011 Wed, Door time: 6.00pm

The Stranglers
24 Mar 2011 Thu

The Alarm - 30th Anniversary Tour
19 May 2011 Thu


Bristol Bierkeller

Hazel O'Conner - 30th Anniversary breaking glass tour
24 Nov, Wed Doors 7:30pm £16 adv, £18 door.


Fleece & Firkin

EIGHTIES MATCHBOX B-LINE DISASTER + The James Cleaver Quintet + Riot:Noise 8pm | £9adv
Wed | Oct 27 Mindblowing psychosis rock five-piece from Brighton

SICK OF IT ALL + Madball + No Warning Shot | 8pm | £15adv
Thu | Oct 28

1. SPIDER'S WEB FESTIVAL | 5.30pm | £18adv Day | £32adv Weekend
ESOTERICA + My Beloved Death + Rhombus + The Last Cry + Knutz + Al B. Damned
Sat | Nov 20

2. SPIDER'S WEB FESTIVAL | 4pm | £18adv Day | £32adv Weekend
VLAD IN TEARS + Cauda Pavonis + The Cemetary Girlz + Imprint + CalatrilloZ + In The Land Of The Blind
Sun | Nov 21

SHAM 69 + 2 Sick Monkeys + Hacksaw | 8pm | £10adv
Tue | Nov 23

*jealous*
I am so in love with that band, got a photo with the singer and bass player (who had a broken leg at the time) last time they were here

Last gig was Saturday just gone, Lluther, I'd never been to the venue before, I really didn't like it, the sound was good, and the band always nail it, but my dislike of the venue dampened my enjoyment of it.

Next gig I'm hoping to be at is Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings.
Should be fun

EIGHTIES MATCHBOX B-LINE DISASTER gig @ The Fleece & Firkin, Bristol

Milky, I can understand why you like them. They have "it" - the stage presence and musicality which make a headlining band. Frenetic hard rock power, a little bit of screamo, melodic, sometimes dark, sometimes slower. A powerhouse of intensity directed at the audience. About as gothy as Aqua, but who gives a damn? (ther were one or two number though, I must admit) The frontman had to have a microphone extension lead as he went right into the crowd, rowdy bugger!

Go see them if you like a bit of a mosh, and want to feel burned out at the end of the gig.

I was supposed to see Sham 69 a few days after my birthday but they backed out of the gig at some point apparently :/

Went to many gigs this year, but most recent (yesterday) was Gary Numan. Was the first time I ever saw opening dj's, which as my friend said were pure torture. But Gary Numan was awesome!

So you are posting things you are going to see for sure, or just the local gigs in general?

I would suggest posting reviews of gigs you have seen, and ones you really plan to see (so that others in the area get a headsup). I plan to see all the bands on my list.

I'm just waiting for this thread to veer wildly off topic, like all the others.

Gotcha, wasn't quite certain what this was all about - thanks for clarifying. Wish there were others in my area - don't think anyone is though. But, in the event I do go to more gigs this year that might be of interest, I'll definitely be posting them.

I suck at reviews though

V2A @ The Globe, Cardiff.

This was at a birthday party for an artist/promoter (Inquistion club nights) who hit the big 30. Not my cup of tea, but I did have a bop to this industrial act. Bigtime thumpy-thumpy but catchy numbers and a properly reheased stage act.

Wear a gasmask and let yourself go!

Jaguar @ The Tunnels, Bristol. £5 on the door.

A classic slice of the 'New Wave of British Heavy Metal'. Energetic and good fun. The support act was interesting, dark rock; but indifferent to the audience, so screw em'. Jaguar involved the audience (on a pogo stick ) and a good headbanging time was had by all. Because its immolate-a-catholic-terrorist day in the UK the audience numbers were not as great that they should have been, but those there did have fun.

Mosh, headbang, and pretend its 1987.

The last gig I saw was AIDS Wolf last month. I generally don't go to many shows that I'm not playing at. Other stand out bands I saw this year were Mother Of Fire and Cacaw. Also, local bands New Creases, Horrible Creeps and Human Boys.

May be going to see Ozzy in January.

I'm really hoping to go to this gig on Saturday:

The Methadones
The Soviettes
The Copyrights
Jetty Boys

Only thing is that it's a pretty far drive from where I live (a tad on the south side of the city), plus being a new driver and all... But, I'm pretty determined

-- Fri Nov 12, 2010 5:52 pm --

Update: Managed to find my way there (after getting the shit scared outta me when the GPS took me on LSD), and ticket purchased for aforementioned gig!

First off, I like to give the full experience when I do reports. If you JUST want to see the band stuff, go a few paragraphs down.

Ok, the 4 bands played (in this order) - Jetty Boys, The Copyrights, The Soviettes, and the Methadones. But let's start from the beginning. I wanted to ensure a parking spot so I left the house at 3:30 so I could gas up the car and then head down there. Well... there's a lot of construction on my route. Needless to say, it was full dark by the time I made it to LSD (Lake Shore Drive).

I get there after 5, pay the max for the parking meter (with the intention of going out later and paying it again). The "max" is 5 hours, and the little ticket thingie the machine spewed out said it would expire at 9pm. I was told inside that after 9 you don't have to pay - sweet! I had my one lonely beer for the night (Blue Moon) and some fries with ranch dressing. Oddly enough, I really wasn't bored while waiting the 2.5 hours or so for the doors to open.

I went outside about 7:45 (the doors opened at - was a bit chilly. I was the very first in there. it's a small little venue, really nice. And the bathrooms (though written all over) were fairly decent. There were these stair-like benches on the right side - I sat on the top one on the advise of another person that sat there. She said you can stand up then and get a really good view.

I don't think the Jetty Boys came on until just before 9 (and I think part of their time was cut too because their set was very short comparatively). They have a very Green Day-ish sound, and they have the energy to back up that sound too. They were jumping around like crazy, and you could just feel the enthusiasm behind the music.

Thankfully, they didn't take all that long to switch groups (15 min at most maybe each time). The Copyrights were a bit more hardcore (even though also being labeled as powerpop/pop punk like the Jetty Boys). They were pretty good in my opinion as well. Especially as I hadn't listened to any of their stuff before, so I was pleasantly surprised.

After them I went to the bathroom. Nice clean bathrooms - gave me more reason to want to come back to this venue. Came back and my seat was still there - the lady next to me told me that I was very lucky! So I took my seat back and watched the next group - the Soviettes. A female punk band, not too bad. I think I'd rather see them by themselves (or at the beginning) rather than in between harder punk acts. It's kinda like having wine and then another almost-as-good wine right after without the crackers - you just won't appreciate that second one as much.

Finally, the Methadones. Oh boy, was this one interesting. Well, this was their final gig. After last night, they have officially disbanded. It was kinda neat to say that I was at a band's last show ever. The crowd was NUTS though. Made me glad I was over on the side and more of a spectator. Crowd surfing, people throwing clothes and hats on stage, throwing water and other liquids (beer I'm assuming). Poor people up front had it landing all over them, lol. One of them being a coworker of mine that happened to be there as well (made it all the more entertaining for me!). It was actually distracting me a bit from the band because it was just so funny to watch! But the Methadones were pretty cool. It was definitely a "Enjoy it now because it's not happening again" atmosphere - makes me think that if that's how people act when the world comes to an end, I can deal with that.

The drive home was ok. Didn't get lost, though I actually took off without setting up my GPS. So had to pull over half-cocked on State Street and set it up. D'oh! But it was smooth sailing after that. it actually seemed lighter outside at that time (12:30am maybe) than when I'd gotten there. It actually looked like the sky does when it's gonna snow (but it didn't).

Don't think I left anything out. Hope you enjoyed!

Sounds like you enjoyed yourself, and that you'll definately be going back to that venue again for more gigs!