Friday, December 21, 2007

The Gigwatcher 21/12/2007

Ho Ho Ho!

I was going to have a long rant about X Factor ruining the battle for the Christmas Number 1, but to be honest I can't really be bothered to waste (virtual) ink on it. And, of course, it's the season of goodwill to all men (including Simon Cowell) so it's better to be nice and say nothing rather than kvetch and moan.

No, really it is.

*koff*

Bah humbug, here's what piqued my interest in the back pages of this week's Christmas edition of the NME:

Pete & The Pirates @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 25/01/2008
Pete & The Pirates @ Consortium, Bournemouth - 26/01/2008
One Night Only @ The Joiners, Southampton - 29/01/2008
Nouvelle Vague @ The Brook, Southampton - 31/01/2008
One Night Only @ Audio, Brighton - 31/01/2008
Late Of The Pier @ The Joiners, Southampton - 02/02/2008
Art Brut @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 03/02/2008
Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit @ Hamptons, Southampton - 05/02/2008
Vincent Vincent & The Villains [supporting Richard Hawley] @ The Guildhall, Southampton - 06/02/2008
Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit @ The Albert, Brighton - 06/02/2008
Noah & The Whale and Naked & The Boys @ The Albert, Brighton - 10/02/2008
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly @ Komedia, Brighton - 12/02/2008
I Was A Cub Scout @ Freebutt, Brighton - 21/02/2008
Tegan & Sara and Northern State @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 22/02/2008
Nouvelle Vague @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 22/02/2008
I Was A Cub Scout @ The Joiners, Southampton - 23/02/2008
Royworld @ The Joiners, Southampton - 24/02/2008
The Go! Team @ Student Union, Southampton University - 24/02/2008
Velvet Revolver @ The Brighton Centre - 27/03/2008
Clinic @ Audio, Brighton - 10/04/2008
Angels & Airwaves @ The Guildhall, Southampton - 14/04/2008
The Pigeon Detectives @ The Guildhall, Portsmouth - 27/05/2008
The Pigeon Detectives @ The Dome, Brighton - 03/06/2008

Given that I'll have a few days spare over the Festive period there's every chance the above gigs will be punted onto the SoMC Events Calendar before the new year (or I may end up festering in front of the tellybox with a cheese and pickle sandwich). The Events Calendar is, when regularly updated, a very handy tool for the average gig monster, including as it does many gigs, like these...

The Popes and The Dolmen @ The Talking Heads, Southampton - 21/12/2007
Mumm Ra and Dead!Dead!Dead! @ The Joiners, Southampton - 21/12/2007
Slaves To Gravity and Plastic Toys @ Unit22, Southampton - 21/12/2007
The Bog Rolling Stones @ The Brook, Southampton - 21/12/2007
Django and The Targets @ The Enska Centre, Portsmouth - 22/12/2007
Superfly @ The Swan, Woolston - 22/12/2007
Kojak's Revenge @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 22/12/2007
The Family, The Mopes and Hugo Frusslinky plus The Bees (DJ set) @ The Joiners, Southampton - 22/12/2007
Skynny Lennard @ The RMA Tavern, Portsmouth - 22/12/2007
Greg Ashby, Mike Vaughn and Lucy Kitchen @ The Railway Inn, Winchester - 22/12/2007
Max Bona @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 22/12/2007
The Men They Couldn't Hang @ The Brook, Southampton - 22/12/2007
Cool Banana @ The Nell Gwynne, Portsmouth - 22/12/2007
Los Albertos @ The Talking Heads, Southampton - 22/12/2007
The Spike Drivers @ The Platform Tavern, Southampton - 23/12/2007
The Trevor John Band @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 23/12/2007
Rufus Stone @ The Brook, Southampton - 23/12/2007
Zug and Ade Cull @ The RMA Tavern, Portsmouth - 23/12/2007
Ryan O'Reilly, Pete Rice and Bo Keeney @ The Railway Inn, Winchester - 23/12/2007
The Warm and Beau Monde @ The Joiners, Southampton - 23/12/2007
Cool Banana, Red Hunnie, Delphic Oracle and Joe Black @ The Fawcett Inn, Portsmouth - 24/12/2007
The Silver Beatles @ The Brook, Southampton - 24/12/2007
Andrew Jarmin, Jess Wilson, Luke Ferre and Moma Jest @ The Square Brewery, Petersfield - 26/12/2007
Black Sugar No Tea and Kool Jaz @ The Talking Heads, Southampton - 27/12/2007
One Weird Fish @ The Tap, Portsmouth - 27/12/2007
Wyldside, Little London, The Good Time Charlies and Jenna's Revenge @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 27/12/2007
Service 68 and Three Kings @ The Railway Inn, Winchester - 27/12/2007
Superfly @ The Red Lion, Stubbington - 28/12/2007
Stout, Ascari and Gas Bar Panic @ The Joiners, Southampton - 28/12/2007
Claptonite @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 28/12/2007
The Mods and Timebomb @ The Brook, Southampton - 28/12/2007
The Reason, The Sinnicks and Miss Murdoch @ The Joiners, Southampton - 29/12/2007
The Queens @ The Brook, Southampton - 29/12/2007
Dragon Eye Morrison, Frosthold, Senator and Bloodline @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 30/12/2007
The Modern Fighting Vehicles and Herbarley @ The Joiners, Southampton - 30/12/2007
The Riotous Brothers @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 30/12/2007
Second Monday, Piano and Caesure @ The Railway Inn, Winchester - 30/12/2007
The Young Brothers Band and The Velvet Doonicans @ The Talking Heads, Southampton - 31/12/2007
Terrathorn, Bury Tomorrow and The Shepherd's Pie @ The Joiners, Southampton - 31/12/2007
Mary Jane @ The RMA Tavern, Portsmouth - 31/12/2007
Derrin Nauendorf and David Downing @ The Platform Tavern, Southampton - 31/12/2007
Loose Caboose and Fresh Legs @ The Railway Inn, Winchester - 03/01/2008
Open Room @ The Joiners, Southampton - 04/01/2008
Orange Street @ The Brook, Southampton - 04/01/2008
The Smyths @ The Brook, Southampton - 05/01/2008
The Radics @ The Joiners, Southampton - 05/01/2008
Apnia, Sinuism, Akakios and Days Of No Trust @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 06/01/2008
New Rope String Band @ Ashcroft Arts Centre, Fareham - 10/01/2008
Wilko Johnson @ The Brook, Southampton - 17/01/2008
Black Francis @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 14/02/2008
David Gray @ The Guildhall, Southampton - 14/03/2008
David Essex @ The Guildhall, Portsmouth - 13/06/2008

Owing to 'promotional commitments' the Sugababes' gig at Portsmouth Guildhall has been rescheduled from Saturday 22nd March to Wednesday 30th April 2008. Original tickets remain valid, contact the point of purchase for more information.

Due to unforeseen circumstances both the The Frog & Frigate and The Hobbit will be closed until till New Year's Eve. The Frog will be seeing in 2008 with a fancy dress party with live music from regular performers Stu and Kev.

The Lounge (formerly Club EQ) in Portsmouth will be hosting an evening of drum'n'bass tonight. Ash A Tack, Dr S Gachét and MC Freestyle will be raiding the vaults to lay down two and a half hours of tunes from 1994 through to the present day. Entrance is £5, doors open 2130-0200.

It took a couple of days longer than this year's festival to sell out, but all the tickets (so far released) for the 2008 Isle of Wight Festival have been snapped up. Oh well.

Details of next year's Gosport & Fareham Festival have been released, with the following acts confirmed as appearing: Show of Hands, Oysterband, Kathryn Tickell, Luka Bloom, Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham, Chumbawamba and The Men They Couldn't Hang. The festival runs from Thursday 20th to Monday 24th March 2008, and tickets are on sale now. In addition, The Levellers, Capercaillie and Bellowhead have all been confirmed for the 2008 Wickham Festival (more information on that in the new year).

And that about wraps it up for 2007;
there's still time to take part in the 3rd Annual Son Of Music Club music poll thing and the annual SoMC Lyric Quiz is now available for download too. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, join me in 2008 when I'll be punting out more of the same.

:o)

Monday, December 17, 2007

It's that time of year again...

Yes, the weather is getting colder, our cheeks are getting rosier and our bank accounts emptier; Christmas time is here again. And, as well as Mince Pies and a surfeit of Turkey, that also means I've once again taken it upon myself to concoct a Lyric Quiz for your delectation and delight (I'm too good to you lot, really I am).

This year's quiz is made up of 50 snatches of lyric, some of which are ridiculously easy, and some fiendishly difficult, but they all should tax your noggin for awhile (thus giving you a grand excuse to raid the Quality Street for "brain food"). It's all wrapped up in a nice PDF file, which you can download by right clicking here and choosing the save option.

The answers will be posted on the blog on Wednesday 9th
January 2008, so you've a few weeks to cogitate on my festive fifty (if you get stuck then you can always ask for help via the forum). To add to the fun (!) a naff prize of some description will be awarded to the person(s) scoring the highest number of correct answers (so no using Google to get the answers).

;o)

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

The Gigwatcher 12/12/2007

The nature of monkey was irrepressible.

The song may remain the same (as so many tabloid editors were kind enough to point out) but the backstage requirements of Led Zeppelin have changed considerably since the 70s. Whereas before their rider might've included hot and cold running groupies, or other such rock star delights, Messrs Page, Plant and Jones were quite undemanding at the O2 this week. All they wanted was a nice cup of tea, or coffee, and an ironing board.

I wonder how long it takes Robert Plant to get the creases out of those shirts of his?

*koff*

Moving swiftly on, here's what grabbed my attention in the back pages of this week's Best of 2007 edition of the NME:

Greg Griffin @ Platform Nine, Guildford - 07/03/2008
The Feeling @ The Guildhall, Southampton - 17/03/2008
One Night Only @ The Joiners, Southampton - 29/01/2008
MGMT @ Pressure Point, Brighton - 04/03/2008
Explosions In The Sky @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 23/01/2008
The Metros @ The Joiners, Southampton - 14/03/2008
The Metros @ Freebutt, Brighton - 15/03/2008
The Twang @ Old Fire Station, Bournemouth - 18/02/2008
Reel Big Fish @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 01/03/2008
The Futureheads @ Old Fire Station - 29/01/2008

The SoMC Events Calendar may well have the above gigs thrust upon them at some point, though given I'm in full-on Festive movie mode at the moment there's a chance my already lax efforts may slip further. Once updated the Events Calendar can prove an invaluable resource for gig monkeys everywhere, including information on gigs such such as:

Shed Seven @ The Pyramids, Portsmouth - 12/12/2007
Rolo Tomassi, Organs As Black and Last Man Standing @ The Joiners, Southampton - 12/12/2007
Divine Heresy, Blood Red Thorne and Hacride @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 13/12/2007
Howards Alias, The Fake Exterior and Dead Mile @ The Joiners, Southampton - 13/12/2007
The Model Village, The MBT and The 47's @ Moneyfields, Portsmouth - 13/12/2007
Alabama 3 (Acoustic) @ The Brook, Southampton - 13/12/2007
Pete Harris & Hugh Budden @ The RMA Tavern, Portsmouth - 13/12/2007
Last Night's Fun @ Ashcroft Arts Centre, Fareham - 13/12/2007
Jane Taylor @ The Square Brewery, Petersfield - 13/12/2007
Dirty DC, Club Le Shark and Young Guns @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 14/12/2007
Cropdusters and Beautiful Life @ The Joiners, Southampton - 14/12/2007
Funkallisto @ The Soul Cellar, Southampton - 14/12/2007
Alabama 3 (Acoustic) @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 14/12/2007 SOLD OUT!
RU40 @ The Brook, Southampton - 14/12/2007
Scarlet Soho and Jonny Dare @ The Railway Inn, Winchester - 14/12/2007
Manic Street Preachers @ The Brighton Centre, 14/12/2007
Dark Horse @ The Hobbit, Southampton - 14/12/2007
Los Pacaminos @ The Brook, Southampton - 15/12/2007
Superfly @ The Admiral Drake, Portsmouth - 15/12/2007
The Superheroes @ The Heroes, Waterlooville - 15/12/2007
Mary Jane @ The RMA Tavern, Portsmouth - 15/12/2007
Parka, Bastila and Crystal Arcade @ Lennons, Southampton - 15/12/2007
Blue Horses @ The Railway Inn, Winchester - 15/12/2007
Steve Arnott @ The Frog & Frigate, Southampton - 15/12/2007
Hijera, Installation and Birdpen @ The Joiners, Southampton - 15/12/2007
Rival Consoles @ Unit22, Southampton - 15/12/2007
Graham McCullough, Marnie and Kizmit @ The RMA Tavern, Portsmouth - 16/12/2007
Exile Arise and Only Heroes Die @ The Joiners, Southampton - 16/12/2007
The Dawn Chorus, The Stations and Dirty 38's @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 16/12/2007
Six Nation State (Acoustic) @ The Railway Inn, Winchester - 16/12/2007
Nick Courtney, Doubleback Alley, Leigh Stokes, Chris Pitt and Rossco @ Drift Bar, Southsea - 16/12/2007
The Alistair Goodwin Band, Andrew Foster @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 16/12/2007
Minus The Bear and I Was A Cub Scout @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 17/12/2007
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of The Worlds @ BIC, Bournemouth - 17/12/2007
Liane Carroll Trio @ The Inn Lodge, Portsmouth - 17/12/2007
The Displacements, The Stops and Zwaitec @ The Joiners, Southampton - 17/12/2007
Frank Sidebottom @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 18/12/2007
Not Advised, Lost On Landing and Chin Music @ The Joiners, Southampton - 18/12/2007
Maddy Prior & The Carnival Band @ The City Hall, Salisbury - 18/12/2007
Tim Cheatle, Leigh Stokes and Curly @ The Edge of The Wedge, Portsmouth - 18/12/2007
The Displacements, The Mopes and Three Kings @ The Railway Inn, Winchester - 18/12/2007
Nick Courtney, Doubleback Alley, The B Of The Bang and First Night Nerves @ Little Johnny Russell's, Portsmouth - 18/12/2007
Organ Donors @ The Talking Heads, Southampton - 18/12/2007
Fresh Legs @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 18/12/2007
Jim Bob @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 06/02/2008
Sons & Daughters @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 11/02/2008
Isla St Clair @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 20/02/2008

Portsmouth-based radio station Express FM's Unsigned Session will be decamping to Little Johnny Russell's in Albert Road on Monday 17th December for an outside broadcast full of, well, unsigned acts and DJs. Entrance to The Black Room (honest, that's what it's called) is FREE.

60's soul and RnB club night Hipshaker joins forces with local band Emptifish for a very groovy Christmas party at The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth, this Saturday, 15th December. Doors open at 2130 and entrance is £5.

Tonight sees the last Waster of the year and it has a suitably festive theme, with snow machines, plus all the Southsea Mafia DJs taking part. Manning the wheels of steel at Portsmouth's Envy nightclub this evening will be DJ Lemon (CHAOS/Delight), Tako (UYN/Phase2), Spikey Mark (The Deco/CHAOS), will chuMp (CHAOS/Delight) and Udy (UYN/Sumo). Doors open at 2200 and the fun runs through to 0230. Entrance is a mere £1 entry before 2300 (£3 after), though you can get in for FREE if you don festive fancy dress.

Roger Courtney's Open Mike Club tomorrow night features performances from acoustic duo Doubleback Alley and singer-songwriter Leigh Mary Stokes. The venue is, as always, The Barn at The Milton Arms in Portsmouth. Budding performers will able to take the stage after the musical guests, please note there's a two song limit. Admission is FREE and the doors open at 1900.

Further acts have been announced for next year's Isle of Wight Festival. Joining The Police, Sex Pistols and Kaiser Chiefs are Lily Allen, The Enemy, Kate Nash, Iggy & The Stooges, KT Tunstall, The Zutons, Ian Brown, NERD, The Kooks, The Hoosiers, Scouting for Girls and, my favourite band of all time, James (and yes, I'm being ironic). Tickets are on sale now, get them while they're hot.

And finally, just a gentle reminder that the 3rd Annual Son Of Music Club poll is now up and running. Click this link, follow the instructions, then get all muso on what you've made of the year.

That's it for this week; this afternoon I have mostly been listening to Easy Star All-Stars excellent Radiodread album and the new offering from Mr Marc Almond. Join me next week when I'll be releasing the torture that is the Son of Music Club's Big Lyric Quiz.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

The Gigwatcher 05/12/2007

Cheese is not your friend.

The more things change the more they stay the same; the Spice Girls are on tour and Morrissey is feuding with the NME about his alleged racism. It's like it's 1997 all over again, all we need now is for Roxette to reform.

[thinks]

See that bloke tempting fate, that's me that is.

*koff*

That's enough of that, here's what caught my eye amongst the back pages of this week's NME:

Palladium @ The Joiners, Southampton - 24/01/2008
Air Traffic @ The Opera House, Bournemouth - 26/01/2008
Plain White T's @ The Guildhall, Southampton - 29/01/2008 SOLD OUT!
Art Brut @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 03/02/2008
Blood Red Shoes @ The Joiners, Southampton - 05/02/2008
Los Campesinos @ Concorde 2, Brighton - 19/02/2008
Los Campesinos @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 22/02/2008
Dizzee Rascal @ The Pyramids, Portsmouth - 23/02/2008
The Hoosiers @ The Pyramids, Portsmouth - 11/03/2008
The Hoosiers @ The Dome, Brighton - 13/03/2008
The Pigeon Detectives @ The Guildhall, Portsmouth - 27/05/2008
The Pigeon Detectives @ The Dome, Brighton - 03/06/2008

I'll attempt to update the SoMC Events Calendar with the above gigs at my earliest opportunity (which is anyone's guess, I'm easily distracted). When updated the Events Calendar is a useful source for information on gigs here and thereabouts (and when it's not it's just an empty looking calendar), like these for example:

Eddie & The Hotrods @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 05/12/2007
Make My Day @ Unit 22, Southampton - 05/12/2007
The Ashbies, The Foxes and Alex & The Liggers @ The Railway Inn, Winchester - 05/12/2007
The Saw Doctors @ The Brook, Southampton - 05/12/2007
Major Melon, Palais and The Cartel @ Yate's, Portsmouth - 05/12/2007
The Bizets @ The Talking Heads, Southampton - 05/12/2007
Crowded House @ BIC, Bournemouth - 06/12/2007
The Dufay Collective @ Turner Sims Hall, Southampton - 06/12/2007
The Aynsley Lister Band @ South Parade Pier, Portsmouth - 06/12/2007
Different Day, Hardly Heroes and Wyld Side @ Havant Arts Centre - 06/12/2007
Kling Klang, Do Geese See God and They Came And Ate Us @ The Joiners, Southampton - 06/12/2007
Kings of Leon @ The Brighton Centre - 06/12/2007
The Dodge Brothers @ The Talking Heads, Southampton - 06/12/2007
Run Walk! and Robots Will Kill @ The Railway Inn, Winchester - 06/12/2007
HIM @ The Guildhall, Portsmouth - 07/12/2007
Boy Hits Car, Fatally Yours and Car Crash Television @ The Joiners, Southampton - 07/12/2007
LR Rockets and Ben Watlings @ The Railway Inn, Winchester - 07/12/2007
The Moulettes and Joe Parker & The Power @ The Hobbit, Southampton - 07/12/2007
Mr Scruff @ The Brook, Southampton - 07/12/2007 SOLD OUT!
Django @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 07/12/2007
Dlugokecki @ The Talking Heads, Southampton - 07/12/2007
Different Day, Hobos & Eskimos, The Coolness and Edible Stems @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 08/12/2007
The Superheroes @ The Colonial Bar, Horndean - 08/12/2007
Sion and Anima Pop @ The Hobbit, Southampton - 08/12/2007
White Knuckle Blues Band @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 08/12/2007
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band @ The Brook, Southampton - 08/12/2007
Night of Treason and Archive 45 @ The Nell Gwynne, Portsmouth - 08/12/2007
The Legendary Derek @ The Frog and Frigate, Southampton - 08/12/2007
This Way Up @ The RMA Tavern, Portsmouth - 08/12/2007
Carina Round and Lupen Crook @ The Joiners, Southampton - 08/12/2007
The Insouciant Ones @ First In Last Out, Winchester - 08/12/2007
Atlantico @ The Talking Heads, Southampton - 08/12/2007
SAS Band @ The Brook, Southampton - 09/12/2007 SOLD OUT!
Moma Jest and Peanut Albinos @ The RMA Tavern, Portsmouth - 09/12/2007
Thin Lizzy and Queensryche @ The Guildhall, Southampton - 09/12/2007
Holy Ghost Revival and The Draytones @ The Joiners, Southampton - 09/12/2007
Gogol Bordello @ The Dome, Brighton - 10/12/2007
Scouting For Girls @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 10/12/2007 SOLD OUT!
Andy Irvine and Jackie Leven @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 10/12/2007
Funeral For A Friend @ The Opera House, Bournemouth - 10/12/2007
Band of HM Royal Marines @ The Guildhall, Southampton - 10/12/2007
Vincent Treacey, Al Goodwin and Steve Dalzell @ The Edge of The Wedge, Portsmouth - 11/12/2007
From The Jam (Bruce Foxton & Rick Buckler) @ The Guildhall, Southampton - 11/12/2007
Tom Hingley (Inspiral Carpets) @ The Cellars at Eastney, Portsmouth - 11/12/2007
Job For A Cowboy and The Black Dahlia Murder @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 11/12/2007
Big Linda and Sons Of Albion @ The Joiners, Southampton - 11/12/2007
The Architects @ The Alma Arms, Portsmouth - 11/12/2007
The Vibrators @ The Railway Inn, Winchester - 13/12/2007
One Weird Fish @ The Tap, Portsmouth - 27/12/2007
The Futureheads @ The Old Fire Station, Bournemouth - 29/01/2008
Richard Fleeshman @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 29/02/2008
Kate Nash @ The Guildhall, Portsmouth - 09/03/2008
Martin Stephenson @ The Ashcroft Arts Centre, Fareham - 29/03/2008
Glenn Tilbrook & The Fluffers @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth - 29/10/2008

The second Southsea Mini Music Festival takes place this Saturday, 8th December, with an afternoon of music at Little Johnny Russell's on Albert Road followed by an evening of tunes at Café Havana. The early session at LJR's (1330-2030) features live sets from Dirty 38's, The Stations, Will McNicol and Katie Malco plus the Red Indie DJs spinning the wheels of steel, whilst Hijera, The Drellas and Extravagatron are confirmed for the late session (2000-0130) down the road aways. The event is in aid of The Ellen MacArthur Trust and entrance to either venue is £3 (or a generous donation).

Tonight's Waster at Portsmouth's Envy nightclub features a DJ set by Bez and Kav from legendary Madchester outfit Happy Mondays, plus live performances from The Elements and The Cartel. Doors open 2200 and the fun runs through to 0230, with entrance a mere £1 entry before 2300 (£3 after).

Indie flavoured four-piece Joby and alternative rockers Infra Rouge are the musical guests at a special Disney themed Roger Courtney's Open Mike Club tomorrow, Thursday 6th December, at The Milton Arms, Portsmouth. Budding performers who feel like taking the stage during the Open Mike session will be asked to perform at least one song from a Disney film (which sounds an interesting idea). Admission is FREE and the doors open at 1900.

The Fawcett Inn plays host to an evening of trance this Saturday, 8th December, when regular night Illumidance lets DJs Coincidence, Clodhopper and Donna DD take charge of the decks. Doors open 1930 through till 2330.

If you didn't know already, The Sex Pistols have been confirmed as the Saturday night headliners for the 2008 Isle of Wight Festival. Tickets for the festival go on general sale at 0900 this coming Monday, 10th December.

And finally; as it's getting toward the end of the year it's obviously time for the 3rd Annual Son Of Music Club poll, a chance for you all to list your best/worst bands, albums or gigs. The template is up on the forum, just click this link then follow the instructions and fill in the blanks.

Put a fork in me, I'm done; this afternoon I have mostly been enjoying the sounds of The Shins, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Arcade Fire. Join me next week when I'll be making a list (and checking it twice).

:o)