The last two occasions that I've been to Rock City have been on a Saturday night, and they have both been really rather early starts, with the doors opening at half past six. This suits me for the simple reason that although I love going to gigs, I also enjoy spending Saturday night at home watching television in my pyjamas (how a television got in my pyjamas, I'll never know). Therefore an early gig caters for both of my needs. I would go so far as to say that half past six is too late, any other night of the week I don't mind what time I'm out until, but on a Saturday we could have gigs starting around three o'clock in the afternoon. What do we do on a Saturday? Sleep late, big breakfast, meander around the shops, put the lottery on, have a day out and so on. By the time we get to three o'clock, we're ready for a gig and we could be home in time for tea and telly. I might suggest it to some of Nottingham's venues. After all, Nottingham leaves the rest of the country behind when it comes to music, so why can't we innovate further regarding Saturday gigs?

I was on the guest list (I love my job) for The Wonder Stuff tonight, who are a band that I honestly can't remember whether I have seen them before or not. There's a chance that I saw them during the early to mid 1990s when I used to go to festivals, as they were a band I would have made an effort to see. However, if I didn't see them then, then I made up for it tonight. Going to see reformed bands from your past is always a bit of a risk, but I have a pretty good hit rate as far as that is concerned, (CUD, Wedding Present, JimBob, The Beat, The Blockheads, Guns and Roses and others). Mandi wasn't really aware of the band beyond obviously knowing the chart singles, and she doesn't often come to music gigs unless she's really into the band, so although I had to cajole her along, she thoroughly enjoyed it. Miles Hunt is the only original member, and the band performed a storming set that seemed to be over almost as soon as it had started. They say that time flies when you're having fun, and when a gig seems to only last mere minutes you know that you've enjoyed it.

The first on the bill support band were Ferocious Dog, who I immediately emailed when I got home to offer a radio session to. It was nice to see them playing to a fairly sizable crowd too, as it seems that my repeated 'support the support band' pleas (that I managed to crowbar into three separate newspaper reviews) are starting to come to something. It is the worst thing in the world to witness a band playing to a handful of people, because most of the potential crowd are in the bar, still in the pub, or outside having a smoke. This is how you find out about bands, so get there at door opening times and discover something new. Erica Nockalls was up next, appearing with her own band before assuming Wonder Stuff duty. All in all it was a fantastic night, and we were home for tea and telly. It is nice to go out, but it is nice to get in!

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