The Gigwatcher 01/08/2007

Pinch. Punch. First of the month.

Keith Richards is writing an autobiography?

*koff*

Too easy.

Moving swiftly on, here's what I found listed in the back pages of this week's NME:

To My Boy @ The Joiners, Southampton - 16/09/2007
Madina Lake @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 24/09/2007
The Hoosiers @ The Old Fire Station, Bournemouth - 09/10/2007
The Coral @ The Guildhall, Southampton - 17/10/2007
Oceansize @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 18/10/2007
Flowered Up @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 22/10/2007
The Hoosiers @ The Joiners, Southampton - 24/10/2007
Stereophonics @ BIC, Bournemouth - 04/11/2007
The Hoosiers @ The Barfly, Brighton - 14/11/2007
Stereophonics @ The Brighton Centre - 05/11/2007

If I'm not trapped under something heavy, or otherwise faffing about, I'll update the SoMC Events Calendar when I get a spare five minutes. The Events Calendar is, as I've been known to tell perfect strangers I meet at bus stops, full to the frothing brim with gigs for people like you...

Georgia Wonder & James Blake @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 01/08/2007
The Way @ Chicago Rock Café, Southsea - 01/08/2007
Sinnerboy @ South Parade Pier, Portsmouth - 02/08/2007
of Montreal @ Audio, Brighton - 03/08/2007
Kelly's Tattoo @ The Talking Heads, Southampton - 03/08/2007
The Bon Jovi Experience @ The Brook, Southampton - 03/08/2007
Isaac Hayes @ The Opera House, Bournemouth - 04/08/2007
Meniscus Brothers @ The RMA Tavern, Portsmouth - 04/08/2007
Manti @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 04/08/2007
The Peter Donegan Band & Arizona Flame @ The Bandstand, Southsea - 04/08/2007 (free afternoon entertainment)
SomaHigh @ The Joiners, Southampton - 04/08/2007
The Talks @ Unit22, Southampton - 04/08/2007
Plain Loco & Westcoasters @ The Bandstand, Southsea - 05/08/2007 (free afternoon entertainment)
Iain Matthews @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 05/08/2007
The Sugars @ The Barfly, Brighton - 07/08/2007
Rufus Stone @ The Brook, Southampton - 17/08/2007
Kubichek! @ The Joiners, Southampton - 29/08/2007
Lloyd Cole @ The Turner Sims Concert Hall, Southampton - 27/09/2007
Idlewild @ The Pyramids, Portsmouth - 23/10/2007
Tom Baxter @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 23/10/2007
The Young Knives @ The Joiners, Southampton - 10/11/2007

Lethal Bizzle's gig at The Joiners on Thursday 16th August has been cancelled, punters are advised to contact their point of purchase for ticket refunds. Monday night's Cherry Ghost gig at The Wedgewood Rooms was cancelled due to illness, the gig has been rescheduled to Monday 20th August. Those lucky enough to have tickets for this SOLD OUT gig but who can't make the new date should contact the venue by Monday 13th August for refunds (those without tickets are advised to contact the Box Office for returns).

The cream of Portsmouth's music scene don their shorts and boots this Saturday, 4th August, for the inaugural Rocker Soccer 5-a-side Tournament. Amongst the bands taking part are Blue Sky Research, The Ridgeway, The Stations, The Deads and Emptifish, all of whom will be joining the crew from Little Johnny Russell's, the organisers of the event. The tournament, which will raise money for Cancer Research UK, will be held at Roko in Hilsea, and the fun kicks off at midday.

Belle and Sebastian's Richard Colburn will be showing off his DJing skills at Little Johnny Russell's in Portsmouth tomorrow, Thursday 3rd August. Entrance is £3 and, along with the demonstration of indie turntable technique, there'll also be live music from Dirty 38's and The Stations to keep you entertained.

The Wickham Festival returns for its second year this weekend, bringing four days of music and entertainment to the village. This year the festival has moved to a dedicated green field site, with a 3000 capacity big-top tent hosting the entertainment (and keeping the punters dry should it rain). Legendary 70's folk-rockers Jethro Tull get things going tomorrow night, Thursday 2nd August, then The Hamsters and Maggie Bell bring the Blues to Wickham on Friday evening. Eddi Reader, Kathryn Tickell and Luka Bloom are on Saturday's bill, which is headlined by Runrig's Donnie Munro. The festival wraps up on Sunday with performances from Dean Friedman, Hazel O'Connor, Eliza Carthy and The Men They Couldn't Hang (who should get the crowd going nicely before Galway's The Saw Doctors bring the festival to a close). Both day and weekend tickets are available from the festival website.

Heat Four of The Wedgewood Rooms' Showcase 07 competition takes place tomorrow, Thursday 2nd August, and will feature performances from Wyldsyde, Absent Jack, Hellcyon and Life With Max (each of which will be trying to persuade both the judges and the audience into giving them more votes than the rest). Tickets for the Showcase events are a bargain £5.

And that about wraps it up for another week; this afternoon I have mostly been listening to The Railway Children and feeling nostalgic. Join me next week when I'll be hunting down the Great Prophet Zarquon and giving him a good telling off.

:o)