The Gigwatcher 18/07/2007

Avada Kedavra!

There's nothing like a bit of rain to make people want to buy songs about umbrellas. But honestly, nine weeks at number one? That's just a tad excessive.

Or is that exces-cess-cessi-ive-ive-ive?

*koff*

I'll get me coat.

Moving swiftly on, here's what I found listed in the back pages of this week's (redesigned, so yes it's smaller) NME:

Lethal Bizzle @ The Joiners, Southampton - 16/08/2007
And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 22/08/2007
Dan Le Sac v's Scroobius Pip @ Audio, Brighton - 17/09/2007
Dan Le Sac v's Scroobius Pip @ The Joiners, Southampton - 18/09/2007
New Young Pony Club @ The Old Fire Station, Bournemouth - 21/09/2007
New Young Pony Club @ Corn Exchange, Brighton - 24/09/2007
Euros Childs @ The Joiners, Southampton - 25/09/2007
The Kissaway Trail @ Audio, Brighton - 02/10/2007 (I've only been waiting two months for their album to turn up, bah humbug!)
The Rumble Strips @ The Joiners, Southampton - 06/10/2007
The Rumble Strips @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 19/10/2007
The National @ The Pyramids, Portsmouth - 10/11/2007

As I'm being more of a gigwhore than usual this week I'll probably not have time to update the SoMC Events Calendar with the above gigs until Sunday afternoon. As has been inferred before, the Events Calendar is lovingly packed with lots of super smashing gigs to whet your appetite, like these:

Easy Star All-Stars @ The Talking Heads, Southampton - 18/07/2007
Dave Sharp @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 18/07/2007
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ The Pyramids, Portsmouth - 19/07/2007
Silversun Pickups @ The Barfly, Brighton - 19/07/2007
Jonquil @ The Joiners, Southampton - 19/07/2007
Julie Felix @ The Kings Theatre, Portsmouth - 20/07/2007
The Beatmakers @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 20/07/2007
Mary Jane @ The RMA Tavern, Portsmouth - 21/07/2007
Bill Kirchen @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 21/07/2007
The Rushes @ Unit22, Southampton - 21/07/2007
The Fabulous Thunderbirds @ The Brook, Southampton - 22/07/2007
Go Lem System & WiserVice @ The Bandstand, Southsea - 22/07/2007 (free afternoon entertainment)
Toupé @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 22/07/2007
Golden Section @ Drift Bar, Southsea - 24/07/2007
The Bravery @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 24/07/2007
Elle Milano & Winterkids @ The Joiners, Southampton - 24/07/2007
The Peacocks @ The Joiners, Southampton - 20/08/2007
The Parlotones @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 09/10/2007
Tom Hingley @ The Talking Heads, Southampton - 26/08/2007
Fightstar @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 12/10/2007
Two Gallants @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 12/11/2007

The Wedgewood Rooms' Showcase 07 competition kicks off tomorrow night, Thursday 19th 2007, with four local bands taking the stage. Making up the first heat are The 47's, Avondale 45, The White Coats and, making their live debut, Yop Radio Saga. Each band will play a 25 minute set, after which both the audience and a panel of judges get to cast their votes on what they've heard. Tickets for the Showcase events are a bargain £5.00.

Bands from five european nations will be descending on The Wedgewood Rooms on Monday 23rd July to show that the International Language of Rock knows no borders. Joining Portsmouth's own Leptany will be Mal'damak (France), Wozu (Lithuania), Cloudcuckooland (Netherlands) and, from Duisburg in Germany, Neurotic Underground. Tickets are a ridiculous £4.00. H'mm, I wonder what the Lithuanian for 'mosh' is?

The second Tin Hut Music Festival takes place this Saturday 21st July, once again in the village of Stroud (near Petersfield). As mentioned here previously, the festival is a fund-raiser for the Stroud Village Hall Project (which is attempting to raise enough funds to replace the 'tin hut' the village has currently with something sturdier). Amongst those on the bill this year are Brian Houston, Hardly Heroes, Suburbian and One Weird Fish. Tickets for the day long event are £10.00 in advance (£12.50 on the day) and, to add to the festival feel, on-site camping is available this year as well.

And finally. When my chum Chris isn't hanging out the side of a helicopter he can be found indulging his obsession for cover versions. He takes a well known tune, finds six to ten covers of said song, then edits them seamlessly together in Garage Band. He then appears in the pub with the tunes on his iPod, teasing us to guess who sang which part of the song. You can now share in the often infuriating quest to figure out the artists involved as he's posted the first three of his mixes on his website, which this link to the forum will point you to.

Put a fork in me, I'm done. This afternoon I have mostly been listening to the excellent Delays and the very wonderful Feist (who was awesome at the Wedge last night, just about the loveliest gig I've been to in ages). Join me next week when I'll be unleashing my army of flying monkeys on to an unsuspecting public, mwah-ha-ha!

:o)