Picture above by Karen Smalley Turner from The Idolins via Facebook. All other pictures are my own.
I haven't been to a gig for ages for one reason and that is financial. The transition between court and solicitors had a two week gap in it and I started a monthly paid job at the wrong time so I need to wait until the end of July before I am solvent again. As I always say, it gives all of the other so-called music champions a chance to catch up and last night at least three people approached me to point out that Mark 'literally' Del was there. I was as surprised as anyone but it is nice to see. It was a bit confusing really, because this gig wasn't a high profile affair. The Idolins were launching their new album so that might have had something to do with it. Once again I was reunited with my old NottinghamLIVE partner Darren to broadcast from the venue on his new radio venture NG Digital, which went a lot better than my last attempt. I'm not sure how successful these live streams are in terms of listeners as logic tells me that anyone who is into live music will be out at a gig, even Mark 'literally' Del was at this gig so if he isn't at home then nobody is.
The gig was at the Canalhouse and I was late because I always lose my bearings in that particular area and for some reason think that it is further away than it actually is, so from the Market Square tram stop I thought that I had taken s short cut that brought me out miles away from where I wanted to be. Lisa de'Ville was soundchecking as I arrived and for some reason in my confused state I thought the show had started. As far as I was aware there were no major problems and the radio equipment was set up in the corner behind the stage so we had a perfect vantage point and weren't in the way. As an added improvement on last time I did this, we had a set of headphones, that is one set that we had to share but at least one of us knew that everything was working.
As nice as it always is to see Lisa I was keenest on this occasion to see The Idolins because for some reason I have never seen them live before. Tonight was their album launch but they were playing in the middle of the bill. I was impressed with what I saw, the band work together beautifully and pretty soon they had a good crowd around the stage. There is a logic behind not headlining your own launch as I have seen this done before, (Golden Troubadours in 2011 did this at Malt Cross) as it gives them chance to mingle and sell copies and also to be interviewed by us NG Digital types.
The Most Ugly Child are one of those rare bands that combine talent with being nice people, and as a result they make for one of the most enjoyable gigs on the circuit, tonight being no exception. This is one of the ways that Nottingham wins when it comes to live music, the first time I saw them it was as support for Captain Dangerous along with two other acts and so I caught them by accident. I possibly wouldn't have gone to see a band like that simply because I am not (apart from the obvious) all that familiar with country music, yet thanks to a happy accident I love their music and rate them as one of the best live bands in Nottingham, something they proved once again last night.
The Sunday Alternative #45 is available from here.
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July Housekeeping
Bags and T-Shirts are still available from here. All money goes in the fund. Feel free to browse the shop page while you're there.
If you donate £5 or more, you get to choose a song for me to cover on kazoo for a YouTube video, details here.
Seriously, I am grateful for the donations so if you haven't got round to it yet, I thank you in advance.
steveEoliver@gmail.com
