The Checkatrade Trophy is, for those unfamiliar with the vagaries of the beautiful game, the third most prestigious trophy in the realm of English football. Were it not for capricious fate (and two goals from Sunderland) Bristol Rovers would have reached this year's final at Wembley, playing Portsmouth for the honour of lifting the silverware.
If Rovers had made it to this weekend's final then linking the game to Crocodile Nightmares' forthcoming gig at The Loft, which features bands both from Bristol and Pompey, would not have required such tenuous opening spiel. But that's football for you, it's a funny old game but, at the end of 90 minutes, Ron Manager will have something inane to say.
Noise merchants Violet Mud, local purveyors of raw, loud musical morsels, headline an evening of mellifluous entertainments. The band played the Strong Island Recordings stage at this year's Icebreaker, always a sign of quality.
The first of the Bristle bands is Sans, a three-piece whose Facebook bio likens their output to audio treacle. Mmm, treacle. Ahead of the release of their first long player Misophonic Songs the band released a track, Ode to Marilyn, which is currently streaming on Bristol In Stereo. If you remember Rickyfitts then you may recognise one of Sans.
Also out of Brizzle are Gork, a six-headed, twelve-legged power punk pop monster of epic proportions. All hail Gork, our new Bristolian overlords... feed the Gork and it will score, etc..
Rounding out the bill are Make Them All Smile, Portsmouth post-punks with a predilection for choice tunes and post-gig kebabs (who also, like Violet Mud, played the SIR stage at Icebreaker in January).
This fun-packed fixture is scheduled for Friday 12th April, at The Loft on Albert Road, with tickets priced at a bargain £5.
Austerity. Welfare reform. Cuts to public spending and services. These are, as Lee Hazlewood sang, cold hard times. Every day more people find themselves in the situation where feeding themselves and their families is a struggle. There is a continuing rise in food poverty across the country and Portsmouth is no exception. Organisations such as The Trussel Trust and the Portsmouth Food Bank provide a sterling service to our community but unfortunately their resources are limited.
To help raise much-needed funds the fine folks of Strong Island Recordings, Velvet Candy and Crocodile Nightmares have joined forces, combining community spirit with music and art to create the Interstellar Food Drive. This cosmic celebration of in-sounds from the out-there takes place at both The Dockyard Club & The Coastguard Studio on Saturday 11th August.
This one-day, two-site mini festival features an impressive line-up of left-field sounds, featuring Portsmouth's own psych merchants Melt Dunes, psych quintet Number 9, the freaky pop of Pregoblin, psych from Sad Palace, garage pop/rock from Skinny Milk, Mystic Peach and The Scrubs, the heavy psychedelic sounds of Black Helium, shoegaze from Superdrone and Dad Hair's post punk. Both venues will feature a kaleidoscopic light show courtesy of Velvet Candy, plus there'll be an exhibition of work from local graphic artists (and, if the music gets you feeling peckish, there will also be a vegetarian BBQ with all profits going to the Portsmouth Food Bank)
Tickets are £8, plus booking fee, available via Billeto.
Further reading
Latest statistics on emergency food supplies given to people in crisis (from The Trussell Trust)
Food Poverty "You think it doesn't happen to normal people" (from Cooking On A Bootstrap)
Child poverty "Hungry pupils fill pockets with school food" (from BBC News)
Jack Monroe "Poverty doesn’t discriminate" (from The Independent)
