Picture by Rex Features

Tonight would have been the coolest birthday present I could have given my dad when I took him to the Albert Hall to see Chas and Dave, apart from the fact that I was reviewing the show for the Nottingham Post and therefore didn't pay for the tickets so I had to buy him a proper present too. It's hard to believe now given how Nottingham has so much live music on offer but when my dad was a teenager the Albert Hall and the Boat Club were the only places to see a band. Black Sabbath, Curved Air, Deep Purple, and Jethro Tull are a few of the names he and his school friends caught there. They stopped holding gigs there after the place was trashed and presumably the concert hungry youth just hung around waiting for Rock City to become a thing. 

What struck me was how small the main hall was, although my dad thinks there was once a balcony area overlooking the stage. This was also the place where his school used to host the end of year presentation events so he took a photo of the impressive pipe organ to show on one of his school Facebook groups. It's difficult for me to picture this being the Nottingham stopping off point for the big names which makes me think that my dad's theory about it being bigger is probably true because a lot of the interior looks very modern and gives off the image of a place that is more accustomed to conferences these days than gigs, they do however host choirs and classical concerts. I remember discussing on the radio once about how Nottingham doesn't have a stage in between Rock City and the Arena and that can be a huge gap. The Theatre Royal doesn't really count although they don't (to my knowledge) have removable seating, although I'm usually happy to sit these days and at seated gigs people are less inclined to talk to each other while the music is playing. Bands never used to play arenas and stadiums as the norm so would play several nights at somewhere like the Astoria or Hammersmith Apollo. Rock City is probably big enough to be honest, especially as they don't bother having a press area.

Chas and Dave are seen by many still as a novelty act but you have to see them to believe that they are a brilliant live band that need to be seen live. My review will be online pretty soon and in Monday's paper.

The Sunday Alternative Podcast #61 is available from here.

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