Adam Bomb tried to nick my fags , the bastard !!!!  Typical behaviour from a native of a country who’s foreign policy involves staking claims on whole continents let alone unattended packets of Marlboro. I got them back eventually and I was surprised that an apologetic Adam didn’t offer the excuse that he knew what was best for me and was saving me from a life of nicotine addiction. Bloody Yanks ….. Where were you lot in 1939 ??? …. Shagging your sisters probably.

A disappointing turn out this week for what should have been great night’s entertainment. I know that Adam’s brand of loud, in-yer-face, scuzzy rock isn’t everyone’s taste but we were expecting a far better crowd. Maybe everyone had heard that the beer has gone up.

What we got was Adam’s trademark showmanship complete with pyrotechnics and all the usual bells and whistles. There was an approximate 50/50 split between originals and covers but all were delivered fast and furiously. Among others I can remember tracks from The Stones, Hendrix, ACDC and Frank Sinatra featuring. I managed to capture some video footage on my camera which I’ll hopefully post on the main website if I can ever get it uploaded onto YouTube (christ it’s slow).

We’d certainly like to see a few more people next week for The Average Welsh Band – you have my personal recommendation that they are excellent.

Spartan Lifestyle arrived for their third gig at The District with a new vocalist and bass player. The singer had previously appeared at the club singing with The Real Deal and we knew that he had a good set of pipes on him and he once again delivered with the new band.

The band’s set had changed markedly since their last visit and we were treated to a number of over familiar tracks which I could have done without. Although they were performed proficiently, what had previously set the band apart from other cover bands was their unusual and quirky selection of some obscure gems . Personally I’d rather have heard them play  XTC’s “Sergeant Rock" than another version of “Alright Now”.

I don’t want to be over-critical but with the new line-up it would be a shame to see them take the easy route when they have the capacity to be so much more. I don’t know how long the new line-up has been going and maybe they needed to flesh out their set-list with a few standards but I’m hoping that we’ll see the re-introduction of some less obvious track selections when we see the band return to the club.

The Hamsters in the Muni for £15 or The Dopeys at The District for £4 , that was the dilemma facing our regulars last Friday. I'm pleased to say that sense prevailed and we once again managed to attract a respectable sized crowd for The Dopeys first visit to the club.

I've been a long-time critic of The Hamsters, they're totally overrated as far as I see. OK , they play a selection of music from two well-loved bands (Hendrix and ZZ Top) but generally perform sterile versions, musically adequate, but failing on all levels in capturing any of the excitement of the originals. I've had the misfortune of seeing the band in a number of different venues, from The Naval to The Point and they've never failed to disappoint. In that respect ,they are consistant. God knows what sort of fee they command nowadays but £15 to see a covers band is a bit of a liberty.

...and so to The Dopeys , three brothers and a drummer from Swansea with a love of Thin Lizzy.

The boys turned up nice and early (which for Swansea bands is a rarity) and got themselves set up in plenty of time to have a chill out in the smoking area. I had a long chat with the lead guitarist who turned out to be a smashing bloke and amazingly complimentary about the club and itching to get into the mood with the rest of us, but he'd promised his bandmates that he'd stay straight until after the gig.

Having refused a soundcheck the bands first few songs sounded little ropey but things gradually improved and as promised we were treated to a Lizzy-heavy set. I can't really remember the exact content of the set but most the usual favourites were played as well as some lovely sustained guitar on their version of Parisienne Walkways. The band's sound would have benefitted greatly from the addition of a couple of Marshall stacks but we decided to push the main mix levels a little higher that normal after receiving complaints the week before that the band were too quiet. Did anyone notice though ?

The patter from the lead singer between songs was hilarious - complete and utter gibberish ! I'm sure that we missed some real pearls of wisdom but to me it sounded like a conversation between Cheech and Chong after a heavy night on the Acapulco Gold. Well it made me laugh anyway.

The band, while not quite up to "tribute" standards were enjoyable none the less and played a selection of material that as a Lizzy fan I couldn't really fault. Great fun.

This is another night that a little vague in the memory. I know that most of you think that I can do with missing the odd meal or two but Friday was particularly manic in work and between having to attend meetings in Swindon, Ross-on-Wye and Swansea I didn't get a morsel to eat all day (apart from a few bananas). Throwing a substantial quantity of alcohol down my throat was in hindsight a very bad idea.

Vintage Rebels played an enjoyable set peppered with a few classic rock obscurities and familiar standards. The band proved themselves to be one of the more musically able classic rock bands that we've entertained with a frontman who looks and sounds the part. Maybe a there's a few people out there who've got a less blurred memory of the tracks that the band performed. I do remember registering a version of Magnum's Storytellers Night (probably the first ever Magnum cover at The District ?)

From what I can remember of the latter stages of the evening , the band received a positive response and the dancefloor was suitably busy. Good sized crowd too.. keep it up !

With the near biblical flooding that we suffered across South Wales on Friday it was a bit of a surprise to arrive at the club on Friday and see the band's transit sitting in the car park and most of Pure Floyd already set up on the stage. Only the bass player was missing and he was travelling all the way from Aberporth (rather him than me).

The band have undergone a couple of changes of personnel since their last appearance at the club, gone was the second guitarist who I seem to remember handled most of the vocal duties and a new bass player and keyboard player had also been recruited. In a change from the norm , the band had decided that they would rather control the sound from the stage, using their own mixing desk. When I enquired what was the reason for this decision I was told that it was what they were used to and it would make it easier to control their click tracks. Oh dear .... click tracks ! ( I'm not a big fan). Excellent, a night off for me and a chance to sit down and enjoy the show for a change.

We were pleased to see that the weather hadn't stopped a large crowd turning up , many of whom had seen the band's last gig at the club and were back for more.

Now I'm a massive fan of Floyd and thought that Pure Floyd had done an excellent job the last time I'd seen them, I was rather less impressed this time unfortunately. The lack of a second guitarist was probably the main reason for this as well as a less than perfect vocal performance from the band's "Gilmour".  The sound was adequate at best and although all the musicians were obviously accomplished players  I felt that the rigidity of using so many backing / click tracks stiffled any creativity and we were treated to mechanical , souless versions of tracks that ought to have reached far greater heights. Yes they played all the right tracks and were musically faultless but they totally failed to communicate any of the emotional intensity of the originals.

Not a glowing review unfortunately but that's the way I saw it.

Feel free to disagree.

There are a few shots of the band on the Photos section of the site courtesy of Glo @ South Wales Bands.

What is it about soul music that appeals to women ? I did a quick head count on Friday night and the girls seemed to be outnumbering the boys by about two to one. Is it the simple time signatures, the undemanding lyrical content or straightforward sin-a-long choruses ? Now I love a bit of Stax or Motown as much as the next man , but usually the next man turns out to be a woman.

We’d been expecting a decent turn out for Big Mac’s arriving at the club I was greeted by the sight of thirty or so single women slamming back the Breezers in the Lounge. Obviously all on a mission.

Gradually the crowd grew to uncomfortable proportions until every seat and table in the club was taken. Thankfully the band had brought their own humper / sound tech to look after the mixing duties and in their wisdom the band decided to forego a soundcheck.

The gig kicked off in fine fashion with the brass section entering from the back of the hall while blowing their instruments. Following their arrival on the stage the full band kicked in with a version of James Brown’s Living in America. Predictably the dancefloor became rather crowded and remained so for the rest of the night. Mainly women of course.

And now for a few small gripes….

I last saw Big Mac’s about 15-20 years ago and I’m pretty sure that they’re still playing the same set.  For such a musically talented band I’d have expected them to have enough material in the locker to drop in the occasional surprise. With 10 minutes of their set left to go it was easy enough to guess what their final few tracks were going to be , I’d been ticking them off in my mind.

The guy doing the sound for the band had earlier told me that he’d been looking after Big Mac’s for the last 10 years. Without doubt the guy gave them the flattest, muddiest and most sparkle-free sound that’s ever come out of our system. I spent most of the night standing behind him biting my lip and reaching for the EQ whenever he wasn’t looking. Maybe their time on the hallowed corporate and wedding circuit has removed any edge that they once had.

Setting aside those minor quibbles you’d certainly have to say that the band were very slick and they whipped the crowd up on the dancefloor very nicely. Apart from a few of our more cantankerous regulars complaining that they couldn’t have their normal seats, the night went off extremely well.

Let’s hope that we see a load of new faces back next week to get grooving to some Floyd.

I've spoken to a few people who were at the club on Friday and had their verdict.

Let's hear from the rest of you.

First of all thanks to everyone that contributed to last week's blog, especially Brian Jones who suceeded in making himself look a complete idiot (or possibly the world's worst wind-up artist). I expect he'll be first in line for The Troubleshooter's big Xmas gig at The District in place of Racing Cars.

We knew very little about Shifting Gear until they arrived at the club on Friday night. Although they tried very hard to be nonchalant about the facilities that we have at the club it soon became obvious that they were not used to playing on a stage as big as ours and were in awe of the PA and new monitoring system that's in place. After their soundcheck we had time for a quick chat with the band and it turned out that we were lucky to have their lead singer with us at all. Earlier that day he'd been the passenger on a bus that had been involved in quite a serious crash somewhere in Cross Keys. Apart from having developed a very worrying facial tick, he'd thankfully managed to escape virtually unscathed.

The band's performance passed off in an inoffensive haze. They certainly weren't the best band that have ever graced the District stage, but they definitely weren't the worst. The lead guitarist appears to have an unhealthy Hank Marvin obsession persisting as he did for most of the night with a clean sound , dripping in reverb. Neither did the lead singer have a particularly powerful voice but to be fair he was in tune for most of the night and they even managed to coax a few people onto the dancefloor in the end. The bass and drums chugged away adequately in the background all night through a selection of classic and original rock tracks and to be fair the band were given a pretty good reception at the end of their performance.

On a personal note, I managed to wake up on Saturday morning with what I'm told is called a "hangover". Since making the change from lager to Guinness a few years ago hangovers have largely become a thing of the past for me. The worst side-effects I usually get  after a Friday night is a bad taste in my mouth and a feeling of lethargy. I felt decidedly rough on Saturday morning and couldn't even manage a piece of toast or cup of coffee until well after lunchtime. Must have been a bad pint.