Picture from Facebook
Nottingham has lost three bands this year that should have gone on to bigger and better things, it appears though that this was all for the best in the end because I have now seen what happens when you mix elements of them together. I have been exchanging messages with Adam Clarkson for a while and he has been keeping me informed of this new project that he has been working on. Last night they played a low-key debut gig as an opener, so low key that they weren't even on the poster or any of the publicity. This was a deliberate ploy to have a live warm up before their first official gig and if it had fucked up then they would have lost nothing. Fuck up they did not though, and a small crowd of early evening gig-goers witnessed the birth of one of the best live bands that Nottingham has produced. Hollywood is led by Will Wilkinson, formally known as Dick Venom, who has undergone another transformation into a sharp suited front man with a singing voice reminiscent of David Bowie's. Adding to the pedigree is Adam Clarkson (Captain Dangerous) on keyboards and backing vocals and Mark Connell (Practical Lovers) on bass. Losing three of Nottingham's best bands was a shame but if this is the result then it was a worthwhile sacrifice. Musically they have an alternative 1980s feel about them and I predict that 2017 is going to be a good year for them, either that or the curse of my endorsement will throw them into disarray.
I only stayed for the one opening act that were not on the bill (having paid £8 for the privilege) because I wanted to be somewhere else. Bunkers Hill do an acoustic night on Fridays held together by Emma Bladen Jones (someone who has so far managed to elude The Random Sessions although she did do an American radio session for me) and I always like to check these nights out whenever possible because of finding new people to film. Paul Carbuncle, possibly the musician I have known the longest since returning to Nottingham, was playing but I missed his set. We had a few drinks in Bunkers before embarking on a mission to find a combination of decent beer and live music, not an easy match to make in Hockley so we ended up at a pub I rarely go in these days, The Pit and Pendulum, who have started doing live music under the supervision of Roots Acoustic. It would have been irresponsible of me to have stayed out late drinking the night before an all day gig, but I haven't had a good drunken blow out for a while so I am sure it did me some good.
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